Gypsy Dancer first caught my eye when a glut of bottles, the A & G Estates Pinot Noir and the Cuvée Romy Pinot Noir, appeared on WineBid.com. They sat for months, getting chipped away at, before I plucked a bottle for myself. It wasn’t until it got home did I realize what that atypical quantity available for auction meant.
Sadly, with the passing of Gary Andrus, Gypsy Dancer founder and winemaker, the label will be no more. Inventories are being sold off. Ironically, I came across a paragraph on the Gypsy Dancer Facebook page written by Katherine Cole from The Oregonian.[Katherine recently wrote a blurb on C+C , also in The Oregonian.]
Cheers to the memory of Gary Andrus, the former Olympic skier who founded Archery Summit, and later, Gypsy Dancer, in the Willamette Valley, before dying last year. -Kathernine Cole The Oregonian
My tasting notes:
A wine for fans of the floral, displaying lilac, jasmine, wisteria and rose. A coastal-like crushed oyster shell and brine minerality is downright impressive. Very light in the glass—transparent to the sparkling ruby core with a nice rusty-orange color at the rim.
Light of body but flavorful and very developed. Tart and trim upfront with a creamy rolling finish showcasing beautiful red berries and sweet watermelon candy. A wisp of wood smoke and cured meat define GD’s personality and profess that this wine is not just flirting with complexity.
Air and hours can excite aromatic twists and turns, but I had no problem embracing a soft amaretto note on the tail end of the nose—it complemented the fire I was sitting next to perfectly.
WineBid.com is currently offering many cases of 2 different Gypsy Dancer Pinots. Give it a try, it’s half price.
Enjoy!
-Rob
