New World Pinot Noir

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

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