Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve from 2018.
I love Willamette Pinot, but found myself very disappointed with this wine. Super fruit-forward and jammy with lots of cherry, purple fruit, and… not much else. Much bigger bodied and darker than most Oregon Pinot, reminded me more of a hyper extracted California Pinot that I would usually avoid.
Decanted for a few hours before drinking, and I will concede that it was at least flavorful and easy drinking. Maybe a good steakhouse wine, but what am I missing here? Anyone love this one? Anyone agree that it’s Meiomi Grand Cru?
by TheEconomy97
20 Comments
Something like Dom Serene, wouldn’t decant especially if older. You can jsut uncork for 10 minutes but voaltiles shouldn’t be a problem.
Nope
Domaine Serene sucks. Owners are giant Trumpers as well.
Love that wine
Edit: lots of hate for this. I guess my taste buds are different haha
a second glass?
A date
Shoutout to the ikea decanter. A powerhouse of the wine world.
Not my fave but who am I to judge?
Not my fave either, I find the Evenstad to be highly variable by year. Their single vineyard stuff I find to be very very solid, but so overpriced relative to, well, everything.
Meiomi grand cru is one of the best insults I have heard in a long time. Haven’t had the wine but judging from your info it might not be for me
it tends to be a little more extracted and sonoma/russsian river style than most of its willamette peers. (not as cartoonishly black cherry and oak like some of the big Russian river wines.) that said i think the objective quality is pretty good just not for my palate. i like evening land, arteberry maresh, and beaux freres up there.
A Pinot noir glass
I had a bottle of the 2015 and enjoyed it. Like you said, big fruit, kind of over the top, which is representative of the winery, but not (in my opinion) of the Willamette Valley. I described their winery as “the Mar A Lago of the Willamette Valley” because of how opulent, over the top, and ostentatious it is.
As I tried other wineries, like Beaux Freres, Nicholas Jay, and Antica Terra, I found that they make Pinot in a style I prefer to Domaine Serene.
A.K.A. Domaine Obscene
Cheeeesssseee
A pinot noir that doesn’t suck.
They actively try to avoid tasting like Willamette Pinot while charging as much as infinitely better wines. They are the most California winery in the valley and they make me very sad
Hahahaha Meiomi Grand Cru, omg… too good. Yah, wines are boozy and lacking soul and the people behind it don’t make it more likeable. You’re not missing anything. Pinot made by drug company CEO. The complete antithesis of generations of Burgundian farmers and fabulous Oregon hippies doing God’s work.
Nah, you nailed it. Many of the comments I’d agree with. The estate and the wines don’t really fit with the majority of Willamette Valley. For me, the one exception is the Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay. I’ve done a couple several blinds with other producers in the area and it has consistently shown very well.
White Rose, Walter Scott, Cristom, Lavinea, etc is way better than anything they produce.
Also finding good contracted vineyards like Merideth Mitchell, Zenith, Johan, etc. can be a way to find some under the radar producers sourcing really good fruit