Don's Gillette's Wine Blog
Musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Read Don's full bio...
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Riding an Expanding Wave: Part one of two
This blog is ultimately about the process of writing descriptive notes for the 2007 California Pinot Noirs. First though, I want to note a bit of history and clarify some personal opinions and prejudices.
From Santa Barbara to Mendocino, California is now checker-boarded with outstanding Pinot Noir vineyards. It's early yet, but I expect the marketplace to eventually sort those sites into levels of quality, fame and price. I am firmly convinced that many of our emerging vineyards will prove to be the equal of Burgundy's Premier Cru and Grand Cru properties. I am just as certain that dozens and dozens of brilliant sites are yet to be discovered.
Thirty years ago, I was absolutely certain that we would never see a local "Slope of Gold". At this point however, we have multiple candidates for that distinction (the Russian River Valley being the most widely developed thus far) and time may reveal more. Each of these appellations is producing great wine, although a few have limitations that may not be overcome in the short term (for instance, much of the best land in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation is currently in the hands of profit-driven corporate owners).
I believe that foremost among the factors which still elevate French Pinots above our California bottlings is vine age. Other obvious factors include: who owns the land; marketplace forces, including the influence of critics; and the winemakers' talent, commitment and experience with the land.
Vine age is overwhelmingly important with Pinot. Not so with all grapes. I learned early on that Cabernet can produce brilliant wine from young vines. I barrel-tasted multiple young-vine Cabs in the 1970s, several of which became great wines and plenty of which turned out to be fine and age-worthy. Viognier can produce fine results from the outset, as can Syrah. I cannot name any new vine California Pinot Noir that became an outstanding wine.
Dozens of new Pinot bottlings are introduced each year, some from existing vineyards, even more from new properties. A consequence is that, with each new fine vintage, an expanded supply of fine wine becomes available. If our weather remains as helpfully clement as in the recent past (hurrahs for global warming anyone?), we can expect each new year to produce a larger group of successful bottlings.
Pinot lovers have been the beneficiaries of this situation for about 20 years now. The 1988 bottles, a small but memorable group, were entirely eclipsed by the even better and more numerous Pinots of 1990. The memory of 1990 (a year when the best California wines were favorably discussed vs. the famous 1990 Burgundies in Wine Spectator Magazine) was virtually erased when the fabulous and much more numerous 1994s (successful state-wide) arrived.
During this period, an enormous amount of new planting was taking place, as growers were learning to fully exploit a newfound availability of authentic Burgundian Pinot clones. The next state-wide success occurred in 2002, when (despite a bit of overripeness in places) quality was both very high and uniform.
We have, in each vintage since then, seen great wines produced in appellations around the state. We have, from 2002 on, had six consecutive fine years in the Russian River Valley. Our next state-wide great vintage came in 2007, which is at this moment bringing us an enormous selection of truly delicious wines.
Next week, part two: Paradoxes of Perfection?