I was thrilled mine overwintered last year too. I honestly haven't noticed a big difference between last year and this year, but I can't imagine why your dried oregano from last year wouldn't be just fine.

Oregano is a perennial and I do believe it tastes better after it is established.

Cut your herbs in the morning before the moisture returns to the roots.

I thought herbs have the best flavor just prior to flowering due to the oil content present. I wait until we have at least 70 degree days for several weeks before cutting a lot of it to dry.

I prefer to use oregano once dried. It's much easier to crumble the dried leaves than strip from stems & chop leaves.

My routine lately has been to cut oregano for a dish I want to prepare & then use some of it fresh, but use the recently dried oregano 1st from the paper sack of it in the closed pantry. Then when the bag is emptied I will put stems of the freshly picked oregano inside it & back into the pantry.

Pizza, chicken, spaghetti, salad dressing, etc....

I plan to get ahead of the game with 2 bags filled this week!