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...
Email Don directly with your wine-related questions.
Pinot Noir 101
For years a steady stream of grape growers have entered the wine "making" industry in California. Their reasons are various, but family pride and economics are both strong incentives. One of the most recent examples is Kastania Winery, whose proximity to California's most important tourist highway makes the transition an especially obvious one.
Kastania Vineyard grows Pinot Noir at the southern end of the Sonoma Coast AVA. Kastania Road is a crescent-shaped bulge, connected at both ends to, and visable from, US Highway 101. It's location is a trace warm, but otherwise beautifully Pinot-worthy, due to its falling within the climatic influence of the Petaluma Gap.
Most of California's best Pinot AVAs are the result of "gaps" in our north-south running coastal mountain ranges. These gaps allow the intrusion of cool marine air into the warm valleys that lie east of the coastal hills. This situation benefits areas from Santa Barbara in the south, to Mendocino's Anderson Valley in the north. The passage called the Petaluma gap spreads its influence in the areas south of the more well-known Russian River AVA.
Owner "Hoot" Smith (the label has a golden owl for a logo) and his wife, Linda, have for several years sold the outstanding fruit from their property to Landmark winery. Landmark has produced a richly textured and opulent "vineyard designated" Kastania Pinot, which has gained both critical praise and a loyal following. The Kastania product is of similar quality, but is more traditional in style. The Smiths hired Leslie Sisneros, winemaker at Arista (a star RRV producer) to make their wine, and like Arista's bottlings the Estate Pinots from Kastania will be examples of steady evolution and polish, rather than early flash.
The Kastania "Estate" is already lovely, with sweet fruitiness, genteel floral notes and a rich texture. The "Proprietor's Reserve" is a darker, more structured wine, clearly meant for cellaring. The Reserve should should be more lovely in about three to five years, while the Estate is quite pleasurable right now. Try a bottle from us, or stop in at the vineyard on your way north!