André Hueston Mack was running an 1,800-label wine list at Per Se in New York before he made a drop of his own. In 2003 he had become the first African American named Best Young Sommelier in America by the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs; four years later he started a label named for the nickname he had picked up in the kitchen — Mouton Noir, the black sheep. He still draws every label himself.
O.P.P. stands for Other People's Pinot, a nod to the 1991 hip-hop single and a plain description of how the wine is made: the fruit grows in Willamette Valley vineyards Mack does not own. Drawing on a spread of sites instead of a single estate is a hedge — a cool pocket and a warm one pull in opposite directions in any given year, and blending across them keeps the wine in shape through a vintage that treats one hillside badly.
In the glass it runs to cherry and red berry, with a floral top note, a dusting of ginger-like wood spice and the damp forest-floor character Oregon does better than most places. At 13.7% alcohol it stays light on its feet.
Twenty minutes in the fridge before you pour it is worth the wait. Pinot Noir at true room temperature goes soft and loses its red-fruit edge, while around 55°F — cellar temperature, not fridge-cold — the acidity holds and the fruit stays bright. It will handle salmon, roast chicken or a mushroom risotto. At this price a lot of Oregon Pinot Noir is either thin or sanded smooth with oak; this one tastes like Pinot Noir, which is rarer under $25 than it ought to be.
André Hueston Mack was running an 1,800-label wine list at Per Se in New York before he made a drop of his own. In 2003 he had become the first African American named Best Young Sommelier in America by the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs; four years later he started a label named for the nickname he had picked up in the kitchen — Mouton Noir, the black sheep. He still draws every label himself.
O.P.P. stands for Other People's Pinot, a nod to the 1991 hip-hop single and a plain description of how the wine is made: the fruit grows in Willamette Valley vineyards Mack does not own. Drawing on a spread of sites instead of a single estate is a hedge — a cool pocket and a warm one pull in opposite directions in any given year, and blending across them keeps the wine in shape through a vintage that treats one hillside badly.
In the glass it runs to cherry and red berry, with a floral top note, a dusting of ginger-like wood spice and the damp forest-floor character Oregon does better than most places. At 13.7% alcohol it stays light on its feet.
Twenty minutes in the fridge before you pour it is worth the wait. Pinot Noir at true room temperature goes soft and loses its red-fruit edge, while around 55°F — cellar temperature, not fridge-cold — the acidity holds and the fruit stays bright. It will handle salmon, roast chicken or a mushroom risotto. At this price a lot of Oregon Pinot Noir is either thin or sanded smooth with oak; this one tastes like Pinot Noir, which is rarer under $25 than it ought to be.
