For Pinot, it Sometimes Comes in Waves
February 15, 2010
For Pinot, it Sometimes Comes in Waves
In California, a Cabernet Sauvignon vintage is typically released to the marketplace over a 3 1/2 year period. Late last summer, we saw the first 2007 “bargain-Cabs”. The inexpensive wines always lead the way, while a few famous Reserve bottles always show up at the end. In March 2012, the 2007 Heitz “Marthas” vineyard Cab, a perennial late-comer, will be released.
The release of a great Pinot Noir vintage like 2007 comes in, excepting lunar influence, rather more like the tide. At first we see just a trickle of wine; then significantly more; then the full rush; then a gradual decrease that ends again with a trickle.
Three categories of Pinot are likely to be launched first: Those which are annually scheduled early; those in danger of losing “restaurant placements” because the previous vintage can no longer be supplied; and those wines that are already so attractive that it is sensible to offer them before they have more market competition.
Great Pinot is by nature a scarce and sought-after commodity and by the time a great vintage such as 2007 is at full flood, press coverage is heavy enough to drive sales of any special wine that the reviewers have unearthed. At that stage a feverish search for the most talked about bottlings will be well under way, but many of the best Pinots are so obscure or in such short supply that the national press will miss them. Alert collectors soon turn their attention in that direction, and word-of-mouth does the rest.
Ultimately the time comes for the next vintage to enter the marketplace. If the press has been generous and loud, as in 2007, what remains of the vintage is a combination of un-released Reserve-level (usually vineyard-designated) bottlings and wines from producers who failed to live up to expectations.
Enter 2008
Last week I attended a regional tasting put on by vintners from the Santa Lucia highlands. The tasting was dominantly of Pinot Noirs and I expected to see many attractive 2007s and to get a look at some 2008s. That was pretty much what happened. What I didn’t expect was that the most attractive wine in the room would turn out to be from 2008.
That wine was the 2008 Roar Garys‘ vineyard Pinot. It was less concentrated than Roar’s brilliant and power-packed 2007 version, but it reminded me of a particularly feminine Musigny. It is quite possible that, in time, the ’08 may be the more delicious wine. Roar’s ’08 Santa Lucia Highlands bottling is also exceptionally pretty.
The winemaker at Roar is Ed Kurtzman. Ed was pouring another of his efforts, the August West 2008 Rosella’s vineyard Pinot, at a table across the room. It too was delicious, if a bit firmer in texture and tannin. The only other Pinot I tasted that was of this quality level was the 2007 Pisoni Estate: a wine of terrific intensity, but one of the two most backward wines of its vintage (the other is Brewer-Clifton’s Cargasacchi).
How good is 2008?
I really don’t know yet about the general quality, but there will certainly be some great wines. Not much has yet been shown to the trade and even fewer examples have been reviewed in the press. 2008 still stands clearly in the shadow of 2007, at least in our understanding and appreciation of it.
I have seen too little of 2008 to form opinions as to which appellations are stalwarts, but one general characteristic about the vintage is distinctive: small crops. Small crops bring concentration, and small crops can ripen better when Mother Nature has not provided enough sunshine.
I have already had a few highly concentrated ’08 Pinots, and anyone seeking an example may try the delicious 2007 Melville Estate Pinot with its 2008 sibling. The ’08 is the richer and better wine. On the same day I tried the ’08 Melville, I tasted the upcoming 2008 Brewer-Clifton Mount Carmel Pinot. The 2008 was not as concentrated as the massive 2007 version, but it was in its quality range and will need a few years less cellar-time to reveal all of its charms.
There is no indication that the amazing consistency of 2007 will be quickly repeated, yet it seems to me that the best 2008s may be exceptional. It also appears that it may require more work to uncover them, so I best get to it.
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