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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2007 Sonoma Pinot Noir: In search of a great harvest [Part Two]
A complicated tasting process
Barrel and clonal selection each have a profound effect on the quality and character of Pinot Noir. The widespread use of European cooperage in California began in earnest in the 1970s and is one of the signatures of our best wines today. The local availability of authentic French Pinot Noir clones is the primary reason for the grapes enormous improvement in quality and its vast expansion in acreage here over the past 25 years.
In Dijon, at the north end of Burgundy, is a nursery which is charged with maintaining a large heritage stock of Pinot Noir clones. About 1990 the wine school at UC Davis and this French organization began cooperatively swapping clones. When a "Dijon clone" arrives at UC Davis, it is verified as disease-free, assigned a number (clone 667, 828, etc.) and propagated for use by California vintners.
Prior to the introduction of the Dijon clones, local growers would plant from our own local heritage clones. These had source-based names such as Swan (from the Joseph Swan vineyard), Pommard (possibly from Rochioli), Calera, Mount Eden, Chalone, or Martini, etc. The original source of each was French, but their provenance was usually uncertain otherwise. What they had in common was that they were not, as a group, cold weather clones.
It was already clear before their arrival, that the Dijon clones would have an enormous impact. In places like the Green Valley (a sub-appellation of the more famous Russian River Valley) the local soil/terroir situation seemed nearly ideal for Pinot Noir cultivation, if growers only had cold weather clones. Equally viable terroir existed in Santa Barbara, Santa Lucia, the Sonoma Coast, Mendocino and in coastal valleys up and down the state.
Twenty five years later, a California Pinot grower might now be expected to plant to any mixture of local and Dijon clones, and such a mix is typical. Our growers have also learned farming techniques which allow the cool weather cultivation of many of our own heritage clones. These days, the clonal diversity and cooperage options can make barrel tasting from a single vineyard both complicated to record and hard to easily relate to the reader.
At Halleck
I have written in the past about my appreciation of the barrel mix at Halleck. Time constraints (Jennifer had a plane to catch) dictated the depth of our look at their 2007s. A one barrel review of their 2007 Estate vineyard Pinot (more supple, if less dramatic the the 2006, with lots of "rooty" notes, red berries and white pepper and great sophistication) and their upcoming Sebastopol Hills blend (showing lovely harmony and plenty of forward fruit, like their Three Sons blend) was all we had, although we tasted extensively from both of their 2007 Farm vineyard and Hallberg vineyard offerings.
We tried a composite blend of the Hallberg, followed by three cooperage choices of clone 777 and two of clone 115. The quality of fruit expression of each was terrific, with the 777 versions showing more citrus and red fruits, while the 115 brought more savory depth. The Cadus barrels pushed citric notes forward, while the Remond barrels brought depth and harmony, and the Latour cooperage (so typical of Latour barrels) brought a dark smoke and bouillon note. Throughout the Hallberg group, the fruit was pervasive, offering a cascade of scents and flavors that included: Bing cherry, crab apple syrup, sweet red plum, yellow rose, boysenberry, orange custard, roasted grain and bouillon, along with polished, grippy tannins and great length.
We tasted Farm barrels, mostly clone 115, which were packed with dark cherry, white and black peppercorn, beet, sweet red plum, cereal grain, sweet vanilla, etc. The texture was sappy/sinewy and the length outstanding throughout. The fruit shown by the Halleck samples, as a whole, was indicative of great vintage Pinot. I can't wait to see these in bottle!
Cal Star, Rick Davis' own label, will produce two bottlings in 2007. His Londer vineyard Pinot showed lovely Bing cherry, red plum and cereal grain notes, while his Sonoma Coast blend was brighter and more citric, with red cherry, red plum, dry red rose and white pepper in a nice balance.
Next week, Part Three:
Chasseur