One of the great strengths of the Oregon wine scene is that its founders came from all points of the globe from all types of backgrounds.

Case in point is Ed King, Jr, the founder of King Estate in 1991, along with his son. Ed started life on a Dust Bowl-era wheat farm in Kansas.  He put himself through engineering school. By 1948, he had started a small company manufacturing aviation components. He sold off his company by 1984 and started looking around for his next project. That next project was becoming a winemaker in Oregon long before doing so became trendy. Ed embodied that archetype of a self-made American, and I’ll always love him for it. A delightful man to the end, he passed away in 2012.

Cough. Onto the wine.

There are dangerously few good Pinot Noirs from Oregon that cost less than $25. This is one of them.  Forest floor and bright red fruits on the nose with a hint of toasted anise and orange zest. Light to the point of being ethereal, this bottle offers up varietal and regional correctness without any flash.

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