Beaux Frères' Hedonistic 2006 Pinot noirs
by Jean Yates
Even More than the Sexy 1994's, These Wines are Ready to Drink but Profoundly Ageable
Open the lush, ready to drink Beaux Frères 2006 Pinots and experience "the sexiest, most hedonistic wine... to date."
A remarkably approachable vintage, the Beaux Frères 2006's are ready to drink and immediately impressive. Th winery calls them "hedonistic". Yes, they're hedonistic and appealing as heck - and, even better than the passionately remembered 1994 vintage sexpots, they have classic structure for aging and the potential to become profound with time in the cellar.
Beaux Frères
The Beaux Frères Vineyard Pinot noir 06 $79.95
Avalon tasting notes: The most seductive, mouthfilling Beaux Frères Pinot noir to date. Let the fanfare begin!
It's an orchestra of mixed fruits, all delivered in a superbly textured wine with massive amounts of rich glycerin. Big doses of spicy red currant provide a lift to the aromas and flavors, elevating and celebrating the dense earth notes so typical in the Beaux Frères Estate. Savory herbs appear briefly as if to announce the finish, then the full chorus of fruit shows off again. The toasty oak is perfectly integrated, letting the ripe fruit sing out.
The winery's tasting notes: The 2006 vintage is a beautiful year of ripeness, and the 2006 Beaux Frères Vineyard shows the exceptional maturity of the grapes and the tannins. Deep ruby/purple-tinged to the rim, with a sweet, ripe nose of black raspberry, kirsch, with some underbrush and spice notes (any evidence of new oak casks is completely obscured by the wine's fruit). The wine cuts a broad savory path on the palate and has relatively elevated glycerin and sweet fruit which tends to obscure and hide the significant tannin. This is a very full-bodied, powerful style but also has a seamless integration of fruit, acidity, wood, tannin and alcohol. It's a beauty and can be drunk young, although we envision this wine hitting its peak in 5-7 years and lasting for 15-20. It is the sexiest, most hedonistic wine from this vineyard site to date. For that reason, we think it is among the finest wines we have ever produced.
Beaux Frères
Willamette Valley Pinot noir 06 $49.95
Avalon's tasting notes: Fragrant and spicy, with a pretty perfumed nose of lovely violets, graham and lush red fruit. Opulent, creamy red cherries and berries fill your mouth. Sweet thyme lingers on the finish, with just a touch of touch of cinnamon, clove, and mingling with vibrant cranberry notes. Much more of a flirty wine than the 2005, the 06 Willamette Valley is immediately impressive.
The winery's tasting notes: This cuvée exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, a beautiful nose of sweet cherries, raspberries, spice box and spring flowers. This wine is very rich, hedonistic, and full-bodied, balanced with tremendous amounts of fruit and glycerin. It is smooth, seamless, and altogether a gorgeously plump, fleshy style of Pinot Noir that should drink exceptionally well for at least a decade. The 2006 Willamette Valley is comprised of wine made from the Carabella, Shea, Zena Heights, Ana and Amalie Robert Vineyards. This may well be the finest cuvée of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir we have made. A real crowd pleaser.
Beaux Frères
The Upper Terrace Pinot noir 06 $89.95
Avalon's tasting notes: The Upper Terrace 06 shows its brooding nature again. Rich, ripe Rainier cherries, black berries and boysenberries begin to show with air. A sexy hint of truffled earth builds with big black fruits and bits of bramble. The wine takes on an intense richness that matches substantial foods such as grilled meats and hearty stews. There's an intense richness to the wine, which almost hides the structured tannins that will allow for more than a decade of aging. Still, it's hard to keep from sipping the 06 Upper Terrace now!
The winery's tasting notes: The Upper Terrace Vineyard has a character all its own. Even though it is a neighbor to the Beaux Frères Vineyard, and shares both soil type and exposure, Upper Terrace is planted exclusively to Dijon clones; we believe this gives the wine a darker fruit character, with aromas of forest floor and spring flowers... recent tastings show an impressively deep ruby/purple color, with boysenberry, blackberry, and black currant emerging along with spring flowers and a slightly restrained yet intense bouquet. This full-bodied wine is a very noble expression of Pinot Noir that tastes as if it emerged from a cooler climate than that of our Newberg, Oregon farm. Its personality is forming beautifully, and while we find the wine less exuberant and flamboyant in its youth than the Beaux Frères Vineyard, it is our belief that with a few years of bottle age it will round into maturity. This wine should age effortlessly for 15 or more years.
Beaux Frères is owned by Mike Etzel, brother in law Robert Parker, and investor Robert Roy.
I believe that the responsibility of the winemaker is to take that fruit and get it into the bottle as the most natural and purest expression of that vineyard, of the grape varietal or blend, and of the vintage. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.
[Photo: Robert Parker with Beaux Frères partners Robert Roy (left) and winemaker (and brother in law) Michael Etzel.]
