Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly 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. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
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Winemakers and their Babies
I suspect that the 2006 Pinot Noir vintage will ultimately be regarded as a fine-to-great one for the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. It is a crop that many winemakers have been in a bit of a sweat about for the last year or so. That could well be a good sign, as most winemakers prefer trouble-free years where they don't have to make decisions, notorious second-guessers that they are.
Bill Hunter, owner and winemaker of Chasseur Winery and an inveterate second-guesser, stopped by last Wednesday to pour us his '06 RRV and Sonoma Coast Pinots. The wines are due for April release and he sought opinions as to their readiness to show customers. I thought the wines were absolutely delicious and better than their 2005 siblings.
Bill was surprised and seemed relieved to hear my opinion. This wasn't news to me, as he is always a good deal more critical about his own wines than his customers are.
A group of us had barrel-tasted his 2006 Pinots last fall. At the time he told us it wasn't a perfect year like 2005, so he was going to have to "declassify" some of his vineyard-designated Pinots to keep the level of that group up to par. The Sylvia's, the Pratt and the Joyce Pinots would not be produced. Along with lesser barrels from some of the other single vineyard wines, their juice would go into his generic RRV and Sonoma Coast blends.
Bill seemed a bit dejected as he spoke to us, but when he gave us a taste of the wines he was not going to declassify, they were wonderful. They were in no sense "marginal" Reserves. I thought they could stand proudly alongside his great 2004 and 2005 wines. I remember assuring my coworkers that there was a strong likelihood that Chasseur's generic bottlings would be splendid in 2006. After all, they had been "elevated" by fruit from some of Bill's best vineyards. I could see the cup was half full, while Bill clearly suspected that it was half empty.
Winemakers don't get out much, and I sometimes imagine them locked in a dark cellar moodily brooding over their creations. Over the last year I have spoken with several great winemakers who betrayed anxiety about the new vintage. Each seems to have had tough decisions, but as far as I can tell they keep making all the right decisions.
Six months ago Dan Goldfield, of Dutton-Goldfield, told me he was concerned about his Reserve Pinots. (I thought the barrel samples he showed us were impressive, if tight) Would he have enough fine barrels to bottle more than one, or hopefully two, vineyard-designates? I learned Tuesday, that when the dust cleared he was able to bottle all four, a feat he was unable to do in the great 2005 vintage!
I keep discovering more delicious 2006s, so I can't wait to try the Reserve versions when they really start to show up in quantity next fall. You know, I sometimes wonder if expectant mothers get as worried about their babies as winemakers do?
Posted by Don on March 10, 2008 8:50 AM | Permalink
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