One Sunday, a friend sent me a text that read: "Evan Martin is in town and I want him to get an understanding of the market. The wines are worth tasting."
I trust my friend's palate, but I essentially took the appointment as a favor. It turned out to be the most exciting tasting I had this year.
The wines were great, and Evan was incredibly insightful and articulate. It's rare to talk to a grower who is able to clearly say what he's trying to achieve in his wines, his approach, and seeing all of it translate into the actual wines so well.
In short, after tasting two vintages of the wines, I feel that Evan Martin is making some of the most compelling wines from Oregon. They are wines that demand your attention.
I'm amazed by how energetic, tightly coiled, and intricately nuanced the wines were. It's a little simplistic to say this, but the wines feel very old-world in style. If you expect Oregon wines to be fairly rich or the Pinots to be marked by cola notes, Martin Woods' wines will shock you.
For this initial offering, we're focusing on the Chardonnay Yamhill Valley Vineyard and the Pinot Noir Jessie James Vineyard, both from the 2021 vintage. The two wines are highpoints of the range and great examples of Martin Woods' style.
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The 2021s are beautifully bright and expressive wines with a harmony that bodes very well for long aging. They have dazzling clarity and are finely calibrated.
The Yamhill Valley Chardonnay is the most surprising and easily the most singular Oregon Chardonnay that I've tasted. It's tension-filled, ruthlessly mineral, and has an amazing focused length. There's loads of finesse and tactile concentration. The vineyard is low in potassium, which limits the vine's ability to take in nutrients and limits yields. In parts of the vineyard, yields are under a ton per acre. You feel the low yields in the wine's gripping intensity and soil imprints.
Martin Woods' Jessie James Pinot Noir is a jaw-dropping wine. The vineyards sit at almost 700 feet altitude on volcanic soils with eastern exposure, and very little topsoil. Evan Martin feels that this vineyard is part of a Grand Cru section. Jessie James is a thrilling bottle combining a nervy and dense core with gorgeous high notes of bright red fruits, floral tones, and spice. This is a dynamite bottle of Pinot Noir.
Prior to founding Martin Woods, Evan worked at Belle Pente, an insider's favorite for real deal classically styled Oregon wines and a producer that Crush has carried since we opened. From the start of Martin Woods, he focused on vineyards where the coastal winds from Van Duzer Corridor really impacted the sites providing cool temperatures during the growing season. He also set his sights on high-altitude vineyards. Beyond this, he has loads to say about how he has figured out how to use barrels from locally sourced oak and weaving the different qualities of Pinot clones in the sites.
There's so much more that I could write, but this offer is already pretty lengthy. I just want to wrap up by saying that these are wines that I very much recommend. They gesture towards a potential for Oregon wines that are rarely encountered. Beyond this, they are simply exciting examples of their representative grapes. Don't miss these two captivating wines.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special 6-pack pricing (3 of each), for a limited time. Use Code :MW21