2014 Foris Vineyards Winery Pinot Noir Rogue Valley 750 ml

“A Strong Back and a Little Money”

In the 1960s, when Ted Gerber was supposed to be studying political science at Cal State Hayward, he was more likely to be found working on fermentation science — read: home winemaking. After graduating, Ted’s passion only grew deeper and he began to purchase grapes from a grower in Gilroy, California. As Ted tells it, the grower’s advice was to move to Oregon: “There you can get started with a strong back and a little money.” And that’s just what Ted did.

Along with his late wife, Meri, Ted bought a property in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley. At the time, the area didn’t contain a single winery, but Ted recognized the immense potential of the Alpine climate and the ancient volcanic soils and decided to plant vines. In 1986, after years of selling fruit to other intrepid winemakers, Ted and Meri released their first vintage of Foris wines.

More than two decades later, on the eve of the 2014 vintage, there was little doubt about Oregon’s place in the pantheon of American Pinot Noir. Exuberant, deep-fruited gems like Ted’s “Rogue Valley” bottling were standing shoulder to shoulder with the best from California. But as every major critic would soon report, the 2014 vintage brought riches even they couldn’t have imagined.

After a warm, dry spring, the vines got off to a fast start in 2014. The set was perfect and by mid-August, it was clear that 2014 had the potential to outpoint even the monumental 2012 vintage, which Stephen Tanzer called Oregon’s “pinot vintage for the record books.”

When the dust settled, Wine Spectator was first to break the seal, stamping a whopping 94-97 points on the vintage. Then Antonio Galloni piled on, noting that 2014 is “a vintage that’s at least the equal of 2012.”  

In the Rogue Valley, at Foris, temperatures were milder than normal, yielding slightly darker, more robust wines. As Ted put it, 2014 brought “a little more of everything: color, concentration, tannin, depth of fruit.” None of this was lost on Antonio Galloni, who raved, calling the 2014 Foris Pinot Noir Rogue Valley “sexy,” and “seamless and expansive on the palate,” adding a 90-point score to one of the greatest under-$20 wines from Oregon’s show-stopping 2014 vintage.

As Galloni put it, the 2014 Foris Pinot Noir Rogue Valley is “vivid ruby” in the glass. Bursting with dark fruit — blackberry, black cherry, plum — on the expressive nose. The attack is big, juicy, and plush, with black raspberry, allspice, and lavender unfolding on the palate. A backbone of mouthwatering acidity brings the wine into focus, yielding a finessed package for a core of clean, pure fruit. Long and spicy on the finish, suggesting a wine with a MUCH greater price tag.

90 points. Just $15.99/bottle, for one of 2014 Oregon’s greatest bargains. Only 800 bottles up for grabs. Don’t think twice, this one’s a bona fide steal.