When Should I Drink the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in my Cellar?

One of the magical parts of appreciating wine is that the wine is constantly evolving. Each time you open a bottle, you are experiencing a specific time and place in a unique time, such that the same two bottles enjoyed three years apart yield different experiences. We're often asked when our wines should be enjoyed, so we've updated our Drink or Hold Chart. Two caveats:

1) Drinking window charts are very subjective as what is "ready" to me may not meet your definition or preferences of what is "ready" or enjoyable to you.

2) I have become less fussy about waiting for the "ideal" drinking window because it is not just be about the wine itself, but about other factors in one's life that influence when to enjoy special wines. When my dad died, I integrated our cellars and as I looked at each bottle we had purchased together, I wished we had enjoyed it together. I'd have loved every "not ready yet" bottle more with my dad than I do now without him at the wine's "ideal drinking" time. The ideal time has less to do with the wine's maturity and more to do with whom we share it.

Disclaimers aside, I have updated our chart that summarizes when I think our wines (Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from 2003 on) will be drinking optimally.