Pinot Noir

Winery Profile: Brick House

June 27, 2010 By Shea 2 Comments

Oregon’s wine country can sometimes seem to fit into a very restricted mold. The sense of repetition derives not just from the fact everyone is making Pinot Noir (that happens in Burgundy too), but more from the seeming lack of myriad exciting terroir driven expressions of the grape. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that Oregon has the potential for variety and distinction. Brick House is one of the wineries that has started to develop a strong sense of terroir, which manifests simply in the fact that their wines don’t taste like what everyone else is making.

My visit began by pulling into a small unassuming patch of land with a simple and very unpretentious little space set up for tasting right on top of the barrel aging cellar. While sipping on a surprisingly outstanding 2007 Chardonnay, my host Alan explained to me the sedimentary terroir of the Ribbon Ridge AVA where Brick House is located. Ribbon Ridge lies within the larger AVA of Chehalem Mountains but has received its special designation because of an ancient flood that deposited sediment carried from thousands of miles away (fossils of animals not indigenous to ancient Oregon are consistently found here).

The Chardonnay, by the way, was outstanding, with stone, pear and quince on the nose. However, what made this work where so many Oregon Chards fail is its great structure (full oak aging and malo) supported by ripping acidity that makes this very easy to drink and gives it the backbone to age 3-4 years before consumption. For the price, there is little around in New World Chardonnay that can match it. Very Good+. $24 at the winery. The 2008 was just as structured, but needed more time in the bottle. I would not hesitate to recommend both.

But terroir means little without the vineyard practices and farming philosophies to match. Brick House is a fully biodynamic winery and is certified as such by Demeter. This means no artificial chemical fertilizers on the vines and no chemical additives (other than sulfites) in the wine. It also means picking with the cycles of the moon and all those other unscientific accoutrements. Many of the vines are also own-rooted. To me what matters more than any certification are the actual practices of the farmers and the wine makers, what they believe in and what they do. From what I observed at Brick House, the fundamental concerns of wine making are well considered, well respected and thought about both ethically and in terms of quality and terroir.

The soul of the winery’s achievements lies with their Pinot Noirs, which taste unlike most of the Pinots being produced in Oregon today (with some important exceptions). The 2008 Boulder Block Pinot Noir is made from Pommard clones imported from Burgundy. This was an immediately accessible wine with spicy red fruit jumping right out at you from the glass. The palate has great balance, acidity and length, coupled with an easy to like prettiness and the taste of raw unadulterated red fruits. This is real Pinot Noir. Excellent. $42 at the winery.

The second Pinot was also my personal favourite, although this choice is more a contrast in style than quality. The 2008 Les Dijonnais Pinot Noir was made from Dijon Clones 113, 114 and 115 and it was the most intellectual of the wines on offer. This was densely packed, with restrained fruit and a deep mineral and earth core. It also changed tremendously with air and time in the glass, showing subtle notes of dill, chocolate and restrained red fruits. If I had to rate this I would give it an excellent rating and note that it is $45 at the winery.

Both of these wines stay out of the dark fruit territory that I find too many Oregon Pinot Noirs venture into. But the difference between these wines highlights the crucial importance of clonal selection in wine making. It is almost meaningless to grow Pinot Noir without knowing what clones you are growing, where, and why. The Dijonnais is the wine to lay down and the Boulder Block the wine to drink now. Both are outstanding.

My last taste was a barrel sample of the 2009 Gamay Noir. This is the only Gamay I’ve tasted from anywhere in the world that approximates a very good Beaujolais Cru. There is more depth and weight here than you find in many of the Crus, but I would compare this most with a Morgon from a good vintage. It had stone, mineral, bright strawberries and that wonderful clean, pure and supple earthy texture that makes great Beaujolais Cru so great. This is proof that with the right sort of vineyard treatment, Gamay Noir can be made into some extremely good wines in Oregon. Excellent. I think ~$19.

Pinot is king in Oregon, but Brick House proves that it is not everything. Both their Chardonnay and their Gamay Noir are outstanding wines at reasonable prices (which is increasingly rare) and are unique wines with character rather than ‘different grapes’ made into wine that tastes like canned fruit. That said, what Brick House is doing with their Pinot Noir also shows that, when done right, site can truly become terroir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Filed Under: $40-$60, Chardonnay, Excellent, Gamay, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir

2010 Olympics BC Winery Profile: Meyer Family Vineyards

February 19, 2010 By Shea 8 Comments

Olympic fever has taken hold of Vancouver as the passion for team Canada erupts throughout the city. Unfortunately, all of the official venues are serving only wines from Vincor or beers from Molson. What happened to supporting all of our local producers? The Olympics for me is a time to celebrate what is great about B.C. and the challenges and accomplishments of B.C.’s own wine growers.

As my profile of Hester Creek demonstrated, there are, unfortunately, not so great wines being made in the province. However, the point of this series was to seek out those wineries that are doing things right in B.C. and to highlight those who have been willing to take the more challenging direction of making complex and palate-challenging wines. I think Meyer Family Vineyards is a winery that, while young, is starting to seek out its own path unique from the crowds.

Jak Meyer started the winery very recently in 2006. The original idea was to buy a vineyard and outsource the production; however, this goal, which began with a successful (albeit small) vintage of Chardonnay, proved to be too small an operation to be a viable business (at only 600 cases). Thus, over the next several years, and by taking advantage of some good deals resulting from the recession, Meyer expanded the winery by adding 19 acres (14 planted) to the original 3 acres of Chardonnay vines.

The focus at Meyer has always been on Burgundy style Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a new Gewurztraminer coming out onto the market soon. However, while Meyer says Burgundy style he does not mean simply emulating Burgundy. The goal here is, most importantly, to produce wines of place – wines that taste like B.C. and the vineyards from which they come.

While right now I think the vineyards are probably too young to show true and complex terroir, I do think that these wines are moving along the right path. I was surprised and impressed by the minerality of the Chardonnay and the earthy tones in the two Pinot Noirs I tasted, the style of each differing considerably from the other. In the future, Meyer plans to bottle more single vineyard Chardonnay offerings in order to expand the fruits of this philosophy.

In the vineyard, the idea is to keep things as “organic” as possible, as winemaker Chris Carson explains:

“In the vineyard we are very hands on. All pruning, canopy management, crop thinning etc. is done by hand. Organic principles are employed, such as making our own compost which is put back into the vineyards. All the stems and pressing are put into the compost along with manure, hay and other organic materials. We do not use herbicides for weed control. Rather, weeds are controlled with a combination of plowing, mulches and the use of weed eaters.”

In the winery, the process is all about trying to show typicity of place rather than uniformity of style. As Chris explains,

“basically the growing season and the wine dictate the outcome, not the winemaker. My job is to maintain the expressiveness and the fruit quality from each individual site through to bottling. No additives are used such as enzymes for clarifying juice or colour, no yeast food or nutrients, no tannins, etc. The only additive that may be used is a small acid addition in warmer seasons.”

I don’t love acidulation, but I think that overall Meyer is making the right sort of choices in the vineyard and the winery and it is nice to see a B.C. winery taking the process as seriously as the final product. Wine should not be made just for the end-point of satisfaction. Doing so belies the importance of the organic process and development of the vines – what makes them what they are and adds the ‘poetry’ to the bottle. That said, specific practices in themselves are not enough – great wine always has that X factor that cannot be explained. But, surely it comes from the confluence of each particular detail of the process coming together to produce an expression that each detail could never do in itself.

Let’s take a look at the wines.

Both of the Pinot Noirs are whole cluster fermented (at least this season – the percentage of whole cluster varies depending on vintage) and left to cold soak. The wines are barrel aged “sur lees” and then fined, but not filtered.

First off we have the Meyer Family “Central Okanagan Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2008, which is made with fruit sourced from friends of Meyer’s who own a vineyard in the Central Okanagan area near Kelowna. The soil at this site is silt loam overlaying gravelly loam. The colour here was very dark red for pinot noir, and the wine had a nose of stem, tobacco leaf, and cherry. Overall I found the wine quite earthy but also with a good dose of fruit that is right now hidden under the tannins somewhat on the palate. Nonetheless, I really like the nose on this.

Moving on to the sip we find a medium body and an absolute ton of tannin. This is obviously still very young with its grippy texture and overt stem and earth character. Underlying that, though, is cherry and bright red berry fruit. Good but not overly intense acidity. This has great stuffing and can (and should) age. While the tannins are aggressive and maybe just a touch green, I like how this was made and think the wine has some good aging potential. I cannot recommend this to drink right now without some serious food pairing to mellow the tannins – but don’t let that put you off the wine, this is pinot noir moving in the right direction. While not as good as the Vieux Pin pinot I had, it’s a solid wine with potential.

Personally I found some nice stewed meat mellowed the tannins and helped bring the wine forward into fruitier territory in this extremely youthful stage of its life.

Very Good
$40

The second Pinot Noir is the Meyer Family “McLean Creek Road Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2008. The terroir here is quite different and the vineyards are on the alluvial and glacial formed terraces near Okanagan Falls. A blend of three blocks on the property, each site has distinctly different sun exposure and thus each site brings a unique characteristic to the blend. The dark red, brownish colour on this belies the feminine and light touch of the wine. The nose is brighter than the Central Okanagan bottling, with additional notes of stone, chocolate and spice. On the palate, this is a lighter style, with brighter fruit and a cleaner palate than the Central Okanagan – with chocolate and spice and subtle under the radar red fruits. These two pinots encapsulate the phrase ”to each their own.”

I enjoyed both, but I think I preferred the very light, almost gamay-like body of the McLean Creek. If you want a denser riper style, this will not be your thing. And, keep in mind these two pinots are fairly expensive for the quality. However, there are good reasons for higher prices for BC wines (See my article), even though this does not mitigate the impact of better quality competition from abroad.

So, while there is definitely room for improvement and these are simpler pinots for the price, I think these are honest wines pushing to achieve something realistically BC. I appreciate that and look forward to the future of pinot at Meyer.

Very Good
$40

The last wine, the Meyer Family Tribute Series “Steve Yzerman” Old Main Road Vineyard, Naramata Chardonnay 2008, is the piece de la resistance here. Stepping from tradition, I saved this for last because I think it is the star of the three wines I tasted from Meyer’s portfolio.

The Chardonnay is hand harvested and whole cluster fermented, and left “sur lees” for about 11 to 12 months. During this time natural malo-lactic fermentation occurs, and is either complete or partial depending on the natural process of the yeast.

The colour is medium yellow and the nose is all bright clean citrus, pineapple, banana, pear, and kiwi. This is really good stuff and sports a tart and clean palate with properly presented oak influence. Again, the palate brings pineapple and a little creme brulee. Nonetheless this is quite long and clean. Here we have a very well balanced chardonnay that is made for food, does not kick the oak bucket, and has great texture and alacrity – in other words, this is my kind of chardonnay.

In my final analysis, this is outstanding and so far the best chard I’ve had from BC. I would love to try Meyer’s higher end micro-cuvee chard because this is simply excellent stuff. And, as ironic as this is, my highest praise for a BC wine is that I would buy this without hesitation at its very reasonable price point.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$35

Note: Meyer Family wines are currently being poured by the glass at Salt Tasting Room and Market Restaurant.

*Full disclosure: I received these wines as samples.

Filed Under: $30-$40, $40-$60, BC Wine, Canadian Wine, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Vancouver 2010 Olympics - BC Wines, Very Good

Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir: Le Vieux Pin “Belle” 2006

February 6, 2010 By Shea 3 Comments

In the last post of my Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir I move, finally, to my home, British Columbia. I decided to approach this region last in order to reflect back on my experiences with the various New World regions as I searched for a BC Pinot Noir that could stand up in quality to these other regions. This is undoubtedly a tough task right now since the region is so young (at about 30 years) and the growing conditions for Pinot Noir not ideal.

In fact, British Columbia is one of the world’s most northerly wine growing regions, with an extremely short growing season and early frosts. However, on the other side of the spectrum, since it is the northernmost tip of the Sonora Desert, the inner Okanagan Valley also sees heat spikes up to 40 degrees centigrade in the summer. This sort of heat can shut the metabolic processes of wine grapes down completely, making for uneven ripening and unbalanced sugar levels. The large Lake Okanagan does produce a lake effect and so offers a cooling influence that can temper the impact of the severe temperatures (whether hot or cold), but there are still many challenges for growers in British Columbia.

Many believe that BC, and the Okanagan in particular, is best suited for high acid, fragrant white wines such as Riesling. I do not disagree; in fact, most of the best wines I’ve tried from BC are white. However, at the recent Taste BC tasting, I discovered that some producers are also having a very serious go at making high quality Pinot Noir; and, while not many producers are succeeding, some are pushing the boundaries of what I thought was possible in British Columbia. One such winery is Le Vieux Pin.

Le Vieux Pin started as a project to produce “terroir” based wines in the Okanagan, mimicking the style of French wines from cooler climates, such as Burgundy and Alsace. The winery is located on the East Bench of Oliver, in the South Okanagan Valley and produced its first vintage in 2005.

In order to achieve its goal, Le Vieux Pin crops at a very low yield level, dry farms (which must be a challenge in the low-precipitation Okanagan), and uses minimal fertilizer. They also claim to have distinct soil compositions in each of their vineyards, with soils ranging from sandy to high gravel, and heavy claim and loam. These distinct soil conditions are the basis for the variation in their wines rather than particular wine making techniques. Le Vieux Pin produces three single vineyard Pinot Noirs, each of which receives the same treatment in the cellar. While I only have had the opportunity to taste one of the wines from this range, I was impressed with its structure and personality, and I did feel it was expressing a particular place.

In fact, I could not place this wine anywhere in the spectrum of New World Pinot Noirs I had tasted so far. The nose was reminiscent of an Oregon Pinot Noir, but the body clearly derived from far less ripe fruit, even while it had greater tannin density than many of the Oregon Pinots I’ve had. In fact, the palate was distinctly earthy and driven by more herbal flavours than you would expect after smelling its nose of cherry cola, baking spice, and cassis. Le Vieux Pin calls this a Pinot Noir for Syrah lovers, and I can actually see what they are getting at. While less ripe than all of the other Pinot Noirs (save perhaps the Rippon from New Zealand), it was still fresh and fruity enough not to taste sour or underripe. My suspicion is that they may have had a difficult time ripening the tannins (skins) in the grapes for this wine as the grapes sugar levels are clearly sufficient. It’s not a perfect Pinot Noir, but it is a wine with personality, and I appreciate that achievement.

Given this uniqueness I would love the opportunity to do both a vertical tasting and a horizontal tasting across the various vineyards.

Very Good+
$45 at Viti, Sutton Wine Merchants, and other private stores

*Full disclosure: I received this bottle of wine as a sample.

To wrap up my Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir series, in my opinion there are distinct styles being made across the New World and Pinot Noir seems to have a far greater diversity of personality than Cabernet Sauvignon does in these regions. In particular, the flavour and style variations I experienced in Oregonian Pinot were exciting, and I think that while this region is young now and learning the ropes, it has the potential to evolve into a mature region producing singular wines with personality. It has a ways to go, but I’m excited at its potential.

New Zealand also continues to be a region for me to watch, although I think it has a considerable challenge with respect to its pricing. The quality is just not there to justify prices mostly above $60 for the higher quality wines. There are just too many Pinot Noirs from elsewhere that have a better quality to price ratio.

Despite my amazing experience with Sojourn Cellars, California continues not to excite me that much. Clearly there is potential here, as Sojourn proves, but too many of the wines are good but not great, and have a more fundamental sameness than the Pinot Noirs from further north. Chile, for me, is also not quite up to par overall with Oregon, even as I did enjoy the Matetic considerably. Again, Chile is a region with potential, but a long way to go. I would put Australia in this category as well. The great producers, such as Grosset, can make good Pinot Noir in the right regions. But, overall, Pinot Noir from Australia generally disappoints, and Grosset is making wines far above the norm.

Lastly, British Columbia is the youngest region in the spotlight, and it shows. That said, good producers are pushing the boundaries and I think it will be possible to produce some good Pinot Noir in the province. However, doing so will be expensive and will rely on the appropriate sites. Most of British Columbia still remains suited to aromatic whites. But, I appreciate that there are wineries out there to make wine with personality and ‘terroir’ rather than simply producing wine to achieve great commercial reviews and maximum extract and fruit.

In the end, this has been a fascinating journey and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.

Up next is a special series for the Olympics that will focus on some of our best BC wineries – with particular emphasis on the small guys, who, in my opinion, are not getting fair or proper exposure in the Olympics (that’s the topic for another rant). I hope people will spread word of these profiles around a bit so that some visitors might happen upon some of the articles and wines and truly taste what BC has to offer.

Filed Under: $40-$60, BC Wine, Canadian Wine, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good

Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir: Grosset Pinot Noir 2005

February 4, 2010 By Shea 6 Comments

Australia is not a land known for Pinot Noir. Notwithstanding its current market woes, with people turning away from its innocuous ‘critter’ wines in ever increasing droves, Australia just never built a reputation for this storied grape. Not that it didn’t try to. It’s just that Australian Pinot Noir never really produces wines so easy to consume as its jammy shirazes. There have been growers bucking this trend though, especially in the regions surrounding Melbourne, such as the Yarra Valley, which tends to be a lot cooler than the rest of Southern Australia. Also, Australia has quite strict quarantine provisions that, unlike New Zealand and Oregon, have prevented the newest Dijon clones from being planted. If Australia opens its borders, the potential for Pinot Noir will likely dramatically increase.

The Grosset Pinot Noir is actually from a region lesser known for its Pinot Noirs and more for its Sauvignon Blancs, the Adelaide Hills. Located in South Australia, just north of the McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills is a very sparsely planted region compared to Australia’s major regions. It is also right on the edge of the city of Adelaide, and so the region is being encroached upon by expanding suburbs. The region’s very high elevation and relative proximity to the ocean ensure a consistently cool and misty environment, which is fairly ideal for Pinot Noir, and also provides a stark contrast to nearby McLaren Vale, which is very dry and hot. The high altitude (400m above sea level) and very cool nights tends to produce wines with sharp acidity; but, I would add that in the right hands red wines from this region retain a freshness that eludes so many Australian wines, particularly those that we tend to find on our continent.

While Grosset is famous for its Clare Valley Rieslings, which are surely some of the best in Australia, this Pinot Noir is not made from estate fruit, but from fruit purchased from vineyards in the Adelaide Hills. That doesn’t seem to impact the quality of this wine negatively in any way however, and the master hand of Jeff Grosset is very evident here. Distinct in Australia, Jeff Grosset has always believed in making wines with a sense of place. While the rest of the industry was busy blending grapes from across the country to produce their innocuous shiraz and cabernet blends, Grosset remained true to his passion for producing ‘terroir’ driven wines that still spoke of Australia, but did so with more character than normal. I think it is thanks to people like Jeff Grosset that Australia has the stuffing to weather its current export crisis and reemerge as a region with distinct terroirs, passions, and diversity. When I attended a tasting of Victoria wines last year to help support victims of the bush fires, I experienced a plethora of cooler climate wines that were all doing different things and beating a completely different drum than what most people have come to associate with Australia. And, as I have discovered over the years, there are wines like this from all over Australia, if we are only lucky enough to find them, and have an importer choose to bring them on to this continent for us. We are on the cusp of a huge transformation in the Australian wine industry, and I think it will be for the better.

I wish I could have found some information on the site and soil conditions for this Pinot Noir, but alas could not. I would very much appreciate if anyone can leave some of this information in the comments as I (and I’m sure many readers) would love to know. The nose on this was spicy, earthy and leafy but with good richness and concentration to the cherry and strawberry fruit notes. In other words, the nose was classic richly styled Pinot Noir – but with grace. The palate had good fruit, but far less up front and concentrated than I was expecting. This allowed the other flavours to come through – earth, spice, and a tart crispness that kept this very fresh. I would actually never have guessed this was from Australia and personally found the wine to be absolutely outstanding – by far the best I’ve had from Aussie-land. I think the little bit of age on this bottle helped it to integrate and present itself perfectly when I opened it.

This wine starkly contrasts with my other favourite wine of this series – the Sojourn Pinot from Sonoma – instead focusing on fruit freshness, a clean palate, and bright robust spicyness. This is a true cool-climate New World Pinot Noir and is worth seeking out if you have the chance. I would not hesitate spending this much on the wine again.

Excellent

$70 at Marquis

Filed Under: $60+, Australian Wine, Excellent, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights

Winery Profile: Le Clos Jordanne

January 28, 2010 By Shea 10 Comments

My relationship to Canadian wine is both similar and dissimilar to most Canadians. It is similar because I have great pride for my country, as many Canadians do. It is dissimilar because for me pride translates into expectations. I would like my country to be famous for more than just ice hockey and doughnuts, and I demand excellence from Canada because I know we can live up to that standard. When we don’t, I feel disappointed but I never give up my search for the exceptional. While sitting at a table surrounded by other Vancouver bloggers and social media types and five glasses of wine I discovered excellence in Canadian wine, for the first time. Le Clos Jordanne has, for me, broken the threshold of quality that I have been searching for in Canadian wine for years. And, I am proud that we finally managed to do it. That Le Clos Jordanne is from Ontario does not bug me as a recently minted BC resident. I think our regionalism detracts from our nation, and I think that we should all be proud of what Canadians are doing no matter where they are from.

clos1

Le Clos Jordanne is a joint venture between Vincor and Domaine Boisset from Burgundy. The idea was to start a winery completely from scratch to capture the ‘terroir’ of a particular area of the Niagara Pininsula in Ontario around the village of Jordan. The Niagara Escarpment, on which the Niagara wine region of Ontario is located, has a limestone base deposited by the Glacier that carved out the Escarpment so many years ago. The Escarpment, combined with the cooling influence of Lake Ontario, provides the region with enough warm air to allow wine grapes to ripen properly, even given the extreme climate and, accordingly, frost and short growing season concerns.

Clos Jordanne 5 Viticulture Manager Thomas Bachelder explained that the aim to produce wines with a sense of place was a decision to take the lessons of Burgundy seriously and to treat the terroir with respect rather than simply copying certain methods. Whereas California became giddy with malo-lactic fermentation and heavy French oak treatment despite the fact that their terroir was nothing like Mersault, Le Clos Jordanne aims to produce wines whose oak and fermentation process compliment the climate, soil, and growing conditions of the grapes. I think they have learned these lessons well (likely because Thomas spent time learning to make wine in Burgundy), and I am hugely impressed with the various wines’ ability to remain distinct from each other, despite very similar treatment in the cellar.

Recently in Montreal a group of wine experts set up a remake of the famous judgment of Paris tasting of 1976 that saw California wines beat French wines in a blind tasting. The idea was to pit France vs. America again, although this time with different wines. However, unbenknownst to the experts, a Le Clos Jordanne Claystone Chardonnay was snuck into the lineup and, amazingly, won top honours in the Chardonnay category. And, just so you have a sense which producers the wine was competing against, consider the likes of Jean-Claude Boisset, Joseph Drouhin, Mer Soleil, Sonoma-Cutrer, and Chateau Montelena, amongst others. These are serious competitors who are well respected and garner high scores from all sorts of media. As much as such tastings must be taken with a grain of salt, I think that this achievement is significant.

clos4 So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the wines. In a non-traditional move we were encouraged to begin with the Pinot Noirs before moving on to the Chardonnays. The first wine was the basic ‘village wine’ Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2006, which retails here in BC for $30. This was very forward and fruity, with a nose of spice, and medium bodied cherry. While simple, the palate is also really enjoyable with its dense but grippy medium body, hint of caramel and spice, and fantastic density and delineation. Very Good+.

I next moved on to one of the single vineyard offerings, the Claystone Pinot Noir 2006, retailing at $45. This was a big step up in terms of structure from the basic village wine. It had a softer, stonier nose, with a decidedly twiggy element. The palate was again soft, but also fruit driven and very elegant. Its grippy dry texture is austere but also draws into a lengthy and wonderful mineral finish. Very Good+ to Excellent.

The last red, the Grand Clos Pinot Noir 2006, was a selection of the best parts of the vineyards, and is a big very complex wine that is still very young. The nose had fantastic layering even as it was difficult to derive all the aromas just yet. Its red berry fruit was, as Thomas said, distinct from many New World Pinot Noirs, which often tend towards darker, richer fruits. The palate had a touch of grapefruit, some eucalyptus, and a spicy mid-palate. The great mid-palate structure will allow this to sit a while and develop more significant separation of all the complex layers. This is very likeable, but also reserved. Excelent. $70.

clos3 And, now on to the whites, beginning with the Claystone Chardonnay 2006 (the winner of the Montreal tasting). These chardonnays are unlike anything else being done with the grape in Canada that I’ve tasted so far, and are certainly vastly superior to most every BC chardonnay I’ve tasted. In fact, these are almost dead ringers for very tasty Burgundy wines, even while still having a sense of place. Is it distinctly Ontarian? Well, that will probably take some time to tell, but this is a great start. The nose is rich and has pineapple, banana and licorice. But this is not a flabby or buttery chardonnay. No, this has great acidity, is very clean and highlights its citrus flavours while offering hints of opulence with its banana and caramel. The long, minerally finish brings the palate back down to earth and keeps the opulence in check. A very good chard. Very Good+.

The last wine, a Grand Clos Chardonnay 2006, was my wine of the tasting. It is still reserved and I can understand why some would prefer the Claystone right now, but for me this kind of chardonnay is what you would see in a young Premier or Grand Cru chablis – tightness, almost reticence, but with the promise of greatness. The palate doesn’t give a lot up yet, but is dense and very complex. The texture is rich and wonderful – very rounded and even more opulent than the Claystone – but the structure is outstanding. This is real chardonnay, built for food, and could one day rival an excellent wine from Burgundy. Excellent.

In conclusion, these are the first wines from Canada that I’ve given an excellent rating to, and they well deserved it. For me, they broke the quality threshold that I’ve been longing for all these years. My only hope is that as many of you as possible can get the chance to taste these. Right now they are in very limited supply (I believe some are at 39th and Cambie), but if you want to taste great Canadian wine, these are absolutely worth seeking out. Colour me extremely impressed.

Filed Under: $30-$40, $40-$60, $60+, Canadian Wine, Chardonnay, Excellent, Pinot Noir, Tastings, Very Good

Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Matetic EQ Pinot Noir 2005

January 26, 2010 By Shea 7 Comments

chile-map-leyda So my idea to have weekly spotlights seems to have been thrown for a loop. I still love the idea of spotlights, though, so I’m just going to continue a given spotlight for however long it takes me to complete, interspersed with other posts. The current spotlight on New World Pinot Noir has been fascinating for me, and while I originally did not plan to try a Chilean Pinot Noir, a reader convinced me otherwise. After tossing a few ideas around I settled on this, the 2005 Matetic Pinot Noir from the San Antonio Valley. Matetic is one of the most important producers in the region and is widely considered to make one of the best Pinot Noirs in Chile.

Chile has always been a particularly distinct region, being so isolated that it is one of the last remaining places on earth where the original vitis vinifera vines can be planted without grafting them onto Phylloxera resistant rootstock. While water is scarce, necessitating irregation in most regions, it is still extremely cheap to grow vines in Chile given the consistently even climate, almost total lack of rot, and cheap land. And, don’t forget that non-grafted vines are much cheaper to plant. Of course, with developing popularity comes increasing land prices and more and more foreign interest. In fact, many wineries in Chile have been started by jet-setting foreigners, one of the most important of which is the Spanish producer Torres who helped bring recognition to Chile in the first place.

While the Central Valley is by far the most famous and most important region in Chile, with its sub-regions such as Maipo and Colchagua, the San Antonio Valley (a subregion of Aconcagua) is one of Chile’s hot new regions. It is particularly interesting for white varieties and for Pinot Noir since it has one of the coolest climates in Chile, being so close to the coast. Casa Marin, for instance, makes my favourite Sauvignon Blanc in Chile with grapes grown in this region. This new region, first planted in 1997 and officially recognized in 2002, has infertile soils of of clay and granite that help add depth and complexity to the wines grown here.

Matetic is run by a Croatian family that immigrated to Chile over 100 years ago, made a fortune in ironworking, and bought the Matetic estate about 20 years ago. A massive 16 000 hectare property, the Matetic family started planting vines here in the 90′s and made their first wines in 1999. Matetic is unique in Chile not because it is organic, which is becoming increasingly popular, but because it has been a pioneer in taking up Biodynamics in the country – a form of vineyard management and winemaking that is becoming increasingly important as much as it is also controversial. The Matetic estate is only 20km from the sea, making it particularly exposed to the very cool Pacific breezes. Of course, this also makes the 120 hectares of planted property particularly well suited for growing cool climate grapes such as Pinot Noir. The diurnal temperature fluctuations make this property particularly good at maintaining natural acidity in their wines while also producing wines with big fruit flavours. If you are curious to view a bit of the estate, take a gander at this video shot by wineanorak writer Jamie Goode.

matetic Now, to the wine! The nose is very Chilean with its distinctive funk, somewhat like an earthy and twiggy cassis bramble. Otherwise, underling the intense power of the funk on the nose are hints of cherry and earth. With air, the nose mellows and adds chocolate and more earth. The palate is both classic and unique: cherry twigs, and generally massive fruit. There is good depth to the mid-palate here with earth, twigs and a punch of spice. This is really flavourful, but also starts out with a hot chocolatey finish (it is 14.5% ABV). I found after a couple hours of air, however, the heat dissipated and the alcohol integrated well into the wine.

In the final analysis, this is unique wine, but it also doesn’t really taste like typical Pinot Noir. There is such a distinctive “Chilean funk” quality to it (similar to what you get w/ the cabs and the carmeneres down there), and I have to admit I am not a fan of that funk. I almost feel like it is a flaw, but I suppose it is something unique about Chilean terroir. That said, I do think this is elegant and tremendously structured and a very good value at $50. Also, many people actually like that distinct Chilean funk, and if you do you will probably love this wine. Most U.S. Pinots at the $50 price in Canada would not have this level of structure. I think this is a peculiar wine with aging potential and I think it’s an enticing hint at the possibilities of Chilean Pinot Noir. It doesn’t bowl me over, but it makes me think.

Very Good+
$50 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars

Filed Under: $40-$60, Chilean Wine, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good

Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Rippon Pinot Noir 2006

January 18, 2010 By Shea 5 Comments

otagomap Today’s Pinot Noir spotlight jumps several thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean to the world’s most southerly wine growing region: New Zealand. New Zealand is a relative newcomer in international wine markets, despite having grown grapes since the middle of the 19th century. In the late 20th century, vine plantings grew over 5400% from a mere 100 acres in the 1960’s to over 50 000 acres today. This phenomenal increase in plantings has been accompanied by a concurrent growth in wineries, which now number over 500.

Of course, New Zealand first became famous internationally for its distinctive style of Sauvignon Blanc, with its big pungent and forward fruit flavours. These days, however, New Zealand is also growing a reputation for other grapes, notably Chardonnay and the subject of today’s post, Pinot Noir. New Zealand is also a predominantly maritime climate that sees abundant rainfall and quite warm temperatures, with the daily average across the year being 10 degrees Celsius (50 F). In fact, New Zealand has quite rich soil conditions, which has in the past made growing wine challenging because of the vines’ prevalence towards overabundance. This made it difficult for New Zealand wine makers to keep the yields low enough and have the vines struggle enough to produce complex wines. Recent developments in canopy management, which corresponded in time to the increased interest in quality New Zealand wines in the 80’s and 90’s, have allowed grape growers to mitigate these effects significantly.

The country itself is so incredibly long that one can find significant climactic variations from north to south. Marlborough in the north, for example, has cool and clear nights in the summer and a relatively long growing season. The longer growing season allows denser and richer wines than in the south, and the 2005 Dog Point Pinot Noir I had recently was a testament to that with deep, rich, dark, and brooding flavours.

rippon vineyard

Central Otago, where this wine is from, is distinct in New Zealand. Not only is it extremely southerly, but it also has New Zealand’s only continental climate. This climate sees greater spikes in temperature than the rest of the country (since continental climates are diurnal), and wine makers have to deal with such problems as frost damage to the vines. Even with these challenges, Central Otago has emerged as New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir region, with over 75% of the plantings being of that variety. The prominence of Pinot Noir might have to do with the great benefit that Central Otago has over the rest of New Zealnad: very dry summers and autumns, which prevent the very sensitive Pinot Noir grape from rotting. Additionally, unlike the rest of New Zealand, most of the vineyards here are planted on hillsides rather than on flat land, allowing for greater sun exposure – thereby reducing the risk of frost damage.

Rippon Vineyard is located next to Lake Wanaka, which was the first sub-region within Central Otago to be developed. A big trend in New Zealand these days is a movement to continue to develop sustainable viticulture. Rippon is a completely biodynamic vineyard, using almost no additives in its winemaking and grape growing practices. The Rippon vineyards are planted on schist soils (an important soil type that sees greater water drainage than usual). There are also deposits of “glacial meal” left in the soil from the time when a glacier carved out the valley in which the vineyard is located.

Rippon has a pretty interesting mission for a New World winery: to create a “vin de terroir” – much like Randal Graham I suppose. However, unlike Bonny Doon, I think that Rippon has a very distinct site within which to pursue this goal. The soil types are unique, as is the climate, and the winery’s adherence to biodynamic principles is promising. That said, I do not think they have quite met their goal yet, but I do believe there is great potential here.

The wine itself was actually quite like a Beaujolais Cru in many ways, with a stark stony personality and lots of pebbles. The fruit was bright, and classic, cherry, which drove the wine forward over the bed of earth and herbs. My biggest complaint with this wine was that it was lacking body. Now, I’m not requesting a higher ABV (this was 13%), but rather a little more depth to the texture. I would have liked to also see more mid-palate structure and a longer finish. Right now, the quality of the wine does not justify its price point. However, this is unique from all the other Pinot Noirs I’ve tasted so far in a manner that I have not yet seen. That is, I feel this wine could very well become a vin de terroir if the winery keeps improving its practices, and, one day, the right vintage hits. There is the potential for profundity here, even if the wine is not quite the cup of ambrosia it is trying to become. I look forward to the future of the Central Otago with great anticipation if wines from the likes of Rippon are any indication. Right now, though, this is not quite what it should be.

Very Good+
$80 at Kitsilano Wine Cellar

Filed Under: $60+, New World Pinot Noir, New Zealand Wines, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good

Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Cameron Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2007

January 14, 2010 By Shea Leave a Comment

map_oregon Oregon – the problem child, the upstart. Anything but California. Oregon is perhaps the New World’s most controversial, exciting, and downright out there Pinot Noir producing region. In fact, Oregon has built its reputation on this fickle grape, which is astonishing given the incredibly challenging climactic conditions of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Indeed, even the luminaries at UC Davis believed, back in the 60′s, that Oregon was unsuitable for growing vitis vinifera grapes. However, some argue that Pinot Noir is at its most complex when it struggles to ripen, and just reaches the threshold.

As a vine growing and wine making region, Oregon began with a few key pioneers who took the time to research the best sites and the best way to properly ripen the grapes in the very wet and mild summer climate. These included David Lett of the Eyrie Vineyard and Dick Erath of Erath. It was, in fact, Lett’s 1975 Eyrie Pinot Noir that was the first wine in the state to do well in a blind tasting with wines from France. Things have changed since then, however, with the old clones being torn out and replaced now with Dijon clones (which are believed to be of much higher quality). While Oregon has grown and changed, the spirit of its winemakers has not. There are very few giant corporate wineries; instead, most are simple unpretentious affairs, fueled by passions rather than egos.

Because of the cyclical influence of the El Nino and La Nina weather events, Oregon has unpredictable vintage conditions. In fact, I would say that Oregon is a place for a winemaker to test his or her skills because making consistent wines across the massive vintage variation that the state sees takes tremendous effort and dedication. This wine, compared to a 2006 Cameron I had a few weeks ago, is a perfect testament to those variations: the 2007 is 12.5% ABV, while the 2006 was well over 14%.

The Willamette Valley is home to several sub-appellations, including the AVAs of Eola-Amity hills, Yamhill-Carlton and Dundee Hills, the most famous and the region in which Cameron is situated. Dundee Hills is famous largely because it was the original site of the Eyrie Vineyards that produced the successful Pinot Noir in the 70′s. The region is characterized by loam hills, good drainage, and the right sort of exposure to rainfall and light to ensure more consistent ripening. That said, the 2007 vintage was a big problem vintage in Oregon, with heavy rains falling just as the grapes were ready to pick (this is a problem as the grapes bloat, and accordingly lose concentration). The weather was cool, however, and thus acidities ended up being quite high, and the wines have considerable fragrance. And, as with most vintages, it was not necessary to chaptalize the wines so long as the winemaker was content with a lower ABV of around 12%.

Cameron is somewhat of an iconic winery in Oregon. However, it is difficult to find much on their history and development. Typically quite difficult to find, Cameron has decided to reduce their carbon footprint, and thus did not renew their allocations on the east coast, instead preferring to find outlets closer by. Luckily for us Vancouverites, this means that their wines are available at the local retailer Marquis Wine Cellars, who exclusively bring them into the province.

The wine itself is dramatically different both from the Pinot Noirs I have tasted to date in this series, and from the 2006 Pinot Noirs I had at a dinner with Sean a few weeks ago. Whereas the 2006s were big, ripe, rich and dense, this 2007 is reserved, acidic, lean, and bright. I am actually quite happy to find such a significant vintage variation, although I must admit that this particular 2007 simply cannot compare in complexity to the 2006 Cameron Abbey Ridge that we had that night. Instead, this brings aromatics of toast, nuts, red berries, and earth. It is not overly complex, but it does gain considerable expression with air. The palate is challenging right now, with a definite tartness and bright, almost unripe, strawberry and raspberry fruit. The earthy undertones are nice, but I think the fragrance on this wine is a bit more interesting than its palate. It simply lacks some integration, and perhaps has such high acidity that it is difficult to appreciate without food. In fact, I would say that this is, primarily, a food wine, and should not be consumed on its own. Food brings out some sweetness and mellows the acidity quite a bit. A take what you can kind of wine.

Very Good
$45 at Marquis

If anything, what this wine taught me was that Oregon has some pretty massive vintage variation, and that, in itself, is pretty exciting. I expect quality will continue to improve over the next several years and the wines I’ve had so far promise great things. As of yet, I have not had an Oregon Pinot Noir that shakes the foundations of my wine-soaked palate, but I know that it will happen one day.

Filed Under: $40-$60, New World Pinot Noir, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good

Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Sojourn Cellars Sonoma Coast ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard’ Pinot Noir 2006

January 13, 2010 By Shea 2 Comments

Today I venture a few hundred kilometres north of Santa Barbara County into Sonoma County. While Pinot Noir is grown in many regions within the County, including the notable Russian River Valley, today’s wine was produced with fruit grown in the hot (as in popular) Sonoma Coast AVA. This AVA is somewhat weird given that it was created for political reasons in order to allow certain wineries to continue to label their wines as estate bottled, despite the fact that the region is vast and encompasses dissimilar terrain, including parts of the Russian River and Carneros. However, a lot of really hot pinots are coming out of this AVA, even if it is unrealistic to describe a “Sonoma Coast” style.

The Sonoma Coast has extreme exposure to marine influences and high altitude, making it one of the coolest regions in Northern California. Because conditions are so cool, the best vineyards here actually face south to allow the grapes to ripen fully. Similarly to the Santa Rita Hills, the Sangiocamo vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA are very close to the ocean in what is called the “petaluma gap”, which is a region where cool air is drawn inland and also one of the last regions where grapes are harvested in Sonoma.

In terms of the vintage, according to the Sojourn website, “The 2006 growing season was a challenging one in many respects for Sonoma County grape growers. June and July brought blistering heat, mixed with some very cool and foggy stretches of weather. Clusters were very tight and berry sizes were larger than normal.”

Sojourn cellars was started by a couple of friends with a passion for grapes – a familiar story in California. They claim that they want to make new world wines that are influenced by the old world (whatever that means). I can tell you that I don’t think these wines have much “old world” in them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t unique. Recently Sojourn Cellars has started to gain semi “cult” status, with some big ratings on their pinot noirs making the wines go upward in price and downwards in availability. The fact that the price is still reasonable for the quality is probably helping them sell their wines despite the recession.

This wine is unique. I’m not sure I’ve tasted a Pinot Noir quite like this before. It is undoubtedly very different from the Au Bon Climat Santa Rita Hills Pinot that I looked at yesterday. I should also mention that this was TIGHT when I first opened the bottle, and really only came into its own with a couple hours of decanting. But, right now as I smell the wine I get earth and cherry in a classic pinot way, but also a dense layer of herbs that gives the wine an almost grassy spicyness on the nose (kind of like sniffing mountain grass).

When I first tasted the wine I was not into it. It was a bit syropy, had dominant oak flavours, and quite harsh alcohol on the back end (it is 14.4% ABV). But boy did that change with the decant. Now this wine is tasting like earthy cherry, really unique almost curry like spices (think Korma), and deep herbal notes. I also enjoy its wild berry tartness and freshness, even as it has a hell of a lot of structure from the oak. The vanillan quality of the oak really subsided with air and became a beautiful layer of custard-like viscosity. My initial thought that this was over-oaked was simply misplaced. In fact, I would say this is one of the most interesting Pinot Noirs that I have tasted. It’s nothing like anything, except itself. You gotta love wine like that.

Excellent
$47 at K&L in San Francisco

Filed Under: $40-$60, Californian Wine, Excellent, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights

Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Au Bon Climat Santa Rita Hills (Mt. Carmel, Sanford & Benedict, Le Bon Climat) Pinot Noir 2004

January 12, 2010 By Shea 9 Comments

santab The second theme in the spotlight series is New World Pinot Noir. I chose this theme for a few reasons. On a personal level, because I have been trying for years to find New World Pinot that I love and appreciate as much as good Burgundy and have yet to be fully successful. On a trend level because since Sideways hit the box office Pinot Noir sales have jumped and the interest in the grape has skyrocketed. But, I wonder, has anyone in the new world really pushed the boundaries of this grape in the last few years? And, lastly, I am excited about this spotlight on a ‘professional’ level because I want to see if I can detect differences not only in stylistic approach, but also in ‘terroir’ between some of the New World’s most famous Pinot Noir growing regions.

With all these goals in mind I will be surveying the most famous regions for producing Pinot Noir in the new world, including California’s Central Coast and Sonoma Valleys, Willamette Valley in Oregon, Central Otago and Marlborough in New Zealand, and the Adelaide Hills of Australia. I am not convinced that Chile is close to the level of these regions when it comes to Pinot Noir so I won’t be including it in this series.

To get the fun started, I am going to be taking a look at the inspiration for the Sideways movie in the first place: Santa Barbara County. Or, more specifically, the Santa Rita Hills. The Santa Rita Hills were the first and most important site for growing Pinot Noir in Central California, and are home to perhaps the most famous Pinot Noir vineyard on the Central Coast: the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard. This vineyard lies in a sheltered area in the hills that sees ocean mists and fog sweep in over the vines in the morning, and burn off by the afternoon. I think this vineyard is no more than 15 or so miles from the Coast, which means cool breezes are a fact of the vines’ life.

Interestingly, the current robust wine scene in the Central Coast region started only in the early 1990s, when vineyard land was incredibly cheap and a good alternative to the ever-increasing expense of Napa Valley in the north. More specifically, the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria Valleys of Santa Barbara County proved themselves to be the ideal sites for growing chardonnay and pinot noir, due to the relatively cool climate compared to Napa. The Santa Rita Hills (part of the westernmost reach of the Santa Ynez Valley), is a series of rolling hills that tends to get quite cool. It has a mixture of soil types, including sand, silt, and clay. The key conditions that make growing Pinot Noir here so unique is that there is very low rainfall here compared to Sonoma County, for example, and so the growing season is very long, allowing the fruit to ripen slowly and fully develop its aromatic potential. The cool ocean air keeps the grapes quite high in acidity, however, which means that if the vines are overcropped the wines will be overly acidic. The best winemakers, however, produce wines with great vibrancy and a rich fruityness that is unique in California.

Au Bon Climat, and Jim Clendenon (the winemaker), are an iconic standby in the region, making Pinot Noir from grapes grown in the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys, as well as in the Santa Rita Hills. Starting in the 1970′s at Zaca Mesa winery, Clendenon went on to form Au Bon Climat with Adam Tolmach (now of Ojai fame). These wines have always been made with, as David from Marquis suggested, one big foot in France and one little one in California. You can detect this style with each wine of his that you drink.

The wine itself is, for me, classic Santa Rita Hills, and it reminds me much of the Alma Rosa wines made from similar fruit. This wine is actually blended from the fruit of three vineyards located in the Santa Rita Hills (including the westerly portion of the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard). On the nose this wine had a rich character of strawberry, cherry, spice, and rhubarb with underlying hints of earth and a fine stemmy burgundy-like character. The palate was similar to the nose, but added licorice and had good weight to the mid-palate, some stems and earth. The wine’s bright fruit gives it a sweetness and, along with the clean and ripe tannin structure, makes this very easy drinking. I quite enjoyed it, although I must admit it is hard to notice the difference between this and pinots made with similar fruit from other vineyards. I will be curious to compare the ‘terroir’ of Santa Rita with that of Sonoma, which will be the subject of the next post in this series.

Very Good+
$48 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, Californian Wine, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good