The only thing I could think of was Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s: unbelievably beautiful and elegant in a simple black formal.

The inspiration for this vision was one sip of pinot noir perfection: 1992 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurene, graciously shared by Anne Amie Vineyards winemaker Ron Shea with us at dinner last Saturday night.

A fourteen-year-old Oregon pinot noir may seem a bit risky, but there were apparently no chances taken by DDO when they made this wine. Still vibrant, with clean fresh fruit aromas and flavors, this understated beauty soon opened into a graceful, elegant complexity whose layers teased and enticed all the senses. This kind of harmony and balance is what defines pinot noir at its most seductive.

When you taste the perfection this wine has acquired over time, you can’t help but be concerned about what will happen to the current generation of Oregon wines in the future as their fruit-forward, higher alcohol style will never produce the kind of complexity that this 1992 DDO attainted after fourteen years.

When you look at a picture of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a movie made forty-five years ago, time has only enhanced her beauty. The same should go for fine pinot noir.