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Books That Go Well With Pinot Noir

In Search of Pinot Noir

Benjamin Lewin MW, Vendage Press, 2011, hardcover, 424 pp, $45 ($29.60 on Amazon).

The title is misleading as this book is a homage to Burgundy. Lewin notes, “Burgundy makes Burgundy. All the rest make (merely) Pinot Noir.” Further, he states, “Burgundy has the pinnacle all to itself for Pinot Noir.” He establishes this premise early on in the book and then begins to prove his case with extensive historical material on the origins of Pinot Noir and the history of Burgundy, a very enlightening discussion of the significance of the region’s terroir, and lengthy tasting notes of exemplary Burgundian Pinot Noirs including recommended drinking windows. He then takes the reader on a trip to other French Pinot Noir producing areas including Sancerre, Champagne and the Languedoc, European Pinot Noir regions such as Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, California and Oregon, and New Zealand and Australia in the southern hemisphere.

The New World versus Burgundy is a tired argument and the argument as presented in the book is agonizing long. Lewin states his case at several points in the book. He notes at one juncture, “The transparency of Pinot Noir can show subtleties of terroir as effectively in the New World as in the Old. Two factors stand in the way of a full appreciation of terroir in the New World....the vines are young....and the style of full frontal fruits isn’t best suited to reveal subtlety of terroir.” I believe he is remiss in acknowledging the Pinot Noirs from Pisoni Vineyard or Rochioli Vineyard where the exuberance of the fruit IS a reflection of the terroir.

The coverage of North American Pinot Noir is woefully lacking with an emphasis only on Santa Barbara County and the Russian River Valley. Santa Cruz Mountains receives but two paragraphs, and the much heralded Pinot Noirs from the extreme Sonoma Coast (except for a cursory mention of Hirsch Vineyard), Anderson Valley, and Sta. Rita Hills are largely ignored.

There are a few inaccuracies along the way. Although David Lett is correctly given credit for launching the modern Oregon wine industry, his first plantings in the Willamette Valley were in 1965 and not 1967 as is stated in the book. Charles Coury is given credit for writing a thesis that suggested that Oregon should plant Pinot Noir, but no such information is contained in Coury’s graduate thesis which was titled, “Wine Grape Adaptation in the Napa Valley.” Lewin attributes the University of California at Davis for advising Joe Rochioli, Jr., to plant grapevines in the Russian River Valley in the 1960s, when grapevines had been growing on the property Joe Rochioli, Jr., acquired for many years prior, and it was Joe’s idea to plant Pinot Noir.

I found it humorous that Lewin frowns on the limited availability of top single-vineyard Pinot Noirs from Oregon and California, saying, “The near universality of the model (allocation) means that unless you are in the magic circle of aficionados, you may never experience the range of single vineyard wines.” Later in the book he touts the wines of DRC and Leroy, yet they are far more expensive and allocated, and even less rarely experienced by the American wine enthusiast.

The book concludes with a description of a tasting to compare aging of top wines from different regions by identifying wines with the same apparent maturity as Burgundy 1995. The author concluded from the tasting that Pinot Noir from a variety of climates and terroirs can produce interesting results with age, but considered many wines in the tasting to be only at the village wine level of Burgundy.

I plan to read this book many times for there is plenty to learn here. Pinot Noir lovers at all levels will be captivated by the detail contained within, and thoroughly enlightened by the extensive charts, maps and photos included, whether are not they are devotees of New World Pinot Noir, Old World Pinot Noir, or hopefully, both.

Grand Cru The Great Wines of Burgundy Through the Perspective of Its Finest Vineyards

Remington Norman, Sterling Epicure, New York, 2011, hardcover, 235 pp, $35.

When I first traveled to Burgundy, I bought Remington Norman’s book that explores the greatest producers of Burgundy, The Great Domaines of Burgundy, in Beaune, and carried it with me everywhere I went. The last edition of that book was published in 1996, but it remains a valuable reference. It was therefore not surprising that I looked eagerly to reading Norman’s latest book and I was not disappointed.

Grand Cru assumes a different tact, concentrating on vineyards rather than producers with extensive profiles of all the Grand Cru Vineyards in Burgundy and the Premier Cru Vineyards that come closest to and are possibly deserving of Grand Cru status. Although, as Norman points out, Burgundy’s Grand Cru vineyards (white and red) amount to just over 1% of the total vineyard area and less than 1% of the wine production of Burgundy, they remain a source of unparalleled interest to Burgundy lovers.

Although Grand Cru Vineyards are the meat of the book, there is much more, including extensive coverage of the Côte d’Or in the context of history, the importance of terroir, the significance of vintages in Burgundy, how to taste and buy Burgundy (or any great wine), pairing Burgundy with food, and the current state of Burgundian grapes in the New World. What you won’t find in this book are extensive tasting notes and specific wine recommendations.

You will find many valuable bits of information and quotes to hang your Pinot cap on. For example, Norman waxes about La Tâche, saying, “The real impact of a great Côte d’Or Grand Cru is as emotional as it is sensorial so one can only hint at the magic and encourage people to pool resources and share a bottle.” In discussing wine tasting, he says, “A useful tip with tasting young wine is to smell the glass that has been empty for a minute or so; this offers an artificial glimpse of how it might develop in the bottle.” When discussing wine quality, he muses, “The greater the wine, in general the more difficult it is to taste young and the slower its progress toward maturity.

The book is replete with glorious photographs of Burgundy as well as color aerial photographs of the vineyards described. A helpful appendix clarifies the various measures of wine-related capacity, yield, and area in several countries.

This is an incredible work that took considerable dedication over many years to bring to print. I would consider it required reading for even the most mildly afflicted pinotphile. My only nit is a little repetitiveness in parts, but this can easily be forgiven by the author’s profuse love for Burgundy expressed so eloquently in this magnificent book.

Voodoo Vintners Oregon’s Astonishing Biodynamic Winegrowers

Katherine Cole, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 2011, Paperback, 182 pp, $18.95.

There are few subjects in viticulture more controversial than biodynamic (BD) farming. The word “voodoo” crops up at various junctures in this book, a term implying a mystical or spiritual basis for this practice. When this book was first released, I mentioned the title to Ted Lemon (California’s Littorai winery), a staunch believer in BD, and he cringed. To emphasize the conflicting opinions about BD, a number of viticulturists would not go on record with statements about BD in this book.

There hasn’t been much scientific research on BD, and the author points out that a few studies have even found BD agriculture to have no measurable effect on soil health and little evidence that the preps contribute to grape quality. Practitioners of this ultimate form of sustainable farming must take a leap of faith.

The author presents a generally supportive view of this practice as told through vignettes of prominent Oregon winegrowers including Moe Momtazi (Maysara), Robert Gross (Cooper Mountain Vineyards), Laurent Montalieu (Soléna and Grand Cru Estates), Don Huggett (Montinore Estate, Brian O’Donnell (Belle Pente), and Mike Etzel (Beaux Frères) among others. At the time the book was written there were 909 vineyard acres in Oregon, or 5% of the total vineyard land, certified Biodynamic® (the word is trademarked and to be used only by Demeter-Certified wineries to market or label wines, but can be used in a broader sense without the trademark to describe BD farming techniques). 365 acres are non-certified Biodynamic® bringing the total in Oregon to 6.5% of the total vineyard land. A master list of natural and biodynamic wine producers in the world (currently 529) is available at www.forkandbottle.com/wine/biodynamic_producers.htm. At the recent organic and biodynamic debate held in the UK, Monty Waldin noted that over 5% of the world’s vineyards are now organic and biodynamic.

There are few sources of information about BD (“There are no Cliffs Notes,” the author points out), so Cole has done an admirable job filling this void by collecting all the important current knowledge about BDs origins (from the agricultural lectures of Rudolph Steiner dating to 1924), its practice (compost piles, cover crops, irrigation limitations, buffer zones, integration of livestock, minimal sulfur and copper usage), important BD organizations (the headquarters for Demeter USA and the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association is based in Oregon), and certification requirements. Viewpoints from both BD’s practitioners and naysayers are offered, with limited discussion given to the latter group because, other than Richard Smart, there are few outspoken prominent opponents to BD.

The author is not a scientist or even a viticulturist, but a wine columnist for The Oregonian and Portland’s magazine about food and drink called MIX. This is a good thing, for she does not attempt to present a treatise on BD, but chooses to offer a highly readable story centered on Oregon winegrowers sprinkled intermittently with useful and accurate information on BD. I am not sure the BD winegrowers are “astonishing” as the title would suggest, but they are certainly fascinating.

To Burgundy & Back Again A Tale of Wine, France & Brotherhood

Roy Cloud, Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2011, paperback, 215 pp, $16.95.

Roy Cloud had worked in the wine business in the United States for years, but in 1997 he was confronted with an unusual assignment. The United States import market was heating up and he was asked to quickly acquire a portfolio of vignerons for a new wine importing company. Nothing unusual about that except that Cloud spoke no French, had never been to Burgundy and had no contacts there, and possessed little experience in importing and distributing fine wine. He did have an older brother, Joe, who spoke French and was available to join him, and the two of them embarked on a twelve day whirlwind life-changing tour of Burgundy.

As wine novices, the pair’s escapades in the cellars of Burgundy are humorous. Not all the domaines that are visited are named, but those familiar with Burgundy can surmise which ones were visited. The tour also includes brief stops outside Burgundy including Sancerre, Alsace, and the Rhone, where at Château de St. Cosme, Joe is trying to be diplomatic to the proprietor and winemaker, Louis Barruol, after being taken aback by a big wine that was offered for tasting. Challenged by the winemaker to describe the wine, Joe uses the term “expressive” to downplay the richness of the wine. The winemaker responds, “Anyone can make a fat wine. That’s easy! But what is fat wine without freshness, without definition? He stuck his butt out and went ttthhhiiiiiiiiddd with his tongue. Just a fart in the wind. And there is a lot of farting out there. Too much farting. Don’t you agree?”

As you can imagine, the tour turned out to be quite an adventure and a bonding experience for the brothers. Cloud writes, “We raced all over the Cote d’Or in a hallucinogenic haze induced by lack of sleep, alcohol, and anxiety at having to perform in front of strangers.” He recants, “We were starting from scratch. We had no reference, no track record, nothing. What I was doing was ridiculous, a fool’s errand.”

Roy Cloud is an engaging writer who holds an MA in writing from New York University. He eventually bought the importing company that first sent him to France and renamed it Vintage ’59 Imports, reflecting a famous vintage in France as well as Cloud’s birth year. The company is based in Washington, D.C. and specializes in artisanal French wines.

Vit Lit

Joe Mesics, Illustrated by Jamie Shulander, Cameron & Company, 2011, paperback, 63 pp, $14.95.

I devoured this book over a few hours as it contains a series of short essays in a column titled “Vit Lit” that the author wrote for The Healdsburg Tribune under the pseudonym F.l Gangbardt between 2008 and 2009. Mesics was a devoted winegrower who started a vineyard in Rickerall, Oregon in the 1960s after a career in the magazine publishing industry. He later moved to the Russian River Valley, and at age 55 planted Timbervine Ranch Vineyard on the flanks of Black Mountain. The vineyard consisted of several acres of Zinfandel. He lived nearby on a ranch on Westside Road called Por Que Ranch where he produced wine from a tiny winery known as Itty Bitty Cellar at Por Que Ranch.

The essays cover subjects ranging from field laborers to hardware stores to terroir, and contain plenty of insider jokes that only those who have lived or spent considerable time in the Russian River Valley will understand since the people that are described are not named. In spite of that, all winos will enjoy the read since he writes from the heart about what farming grapes is really like and how winegrowing has changed since he began in the 1960s.

Mesics has a special hatred for weekend farmers, rich retirees who “bought into the romance of viticulture,” as he puts it. He wrote, “Some days bad things happen at the mountaintop. Pumps clog, motors overheat, batteries fail....hornets attack workers, and winemakers demand more attention be paid to leaf pulling or dropping a crop. Unless you experience such surprises, you’re not really experiencing the Romance of Viticulture.”

I found myself laughing out loud at several junctures of the book. Tragically, Mesics passed away before his book was published. This is not a book that will receive wide recognition or press, but it is honest writing that truly conveys one man’s love for viticulture. As Mesics put it, “I’ve never met a grapevine I haven’t liked.” I can just imagine his weathered skin and gnarled hands, and regret that I never met the man.

The Wine Seeker’s Guide to Livermore Valley

Thomas C. Wilmer, RiverWood Books, Ashland, Oregon, 2010, paperback, 236 pp, $18.95.

This is the first published comprehensive guide to this under-appreciated California wine region which has been quietly been producing wine for more than 125 years. 15 miles long and 10 miles wide, the Livermore AVA was approved in 1982. Because of east-west oriented mountains that flank the valley, the climate is coastal, with marine air and fog intruding from San Francisco Bay.

The history of the region is documented in this handy guide and includes a forward by Phil Wente and James Concannon. The Wente family brought Chardonnay clones to the region from France in 1912 and today more than 80% of Chardonnay plantings in California are some variation of the Wente clone. The first varietally-labeled Sauvignon Blanc and Petite Sirah came from Livermore Valley.

Pinot Noir plantings are sparse and Pinot Noir has been a minor variety for nearly all producers in the region except La Rochelle Winery which sources Pinot Noir from several AVAs in California and Oregon. The signature varietals of Livermore Valley are Petite Sirah, Syrah, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. This tour guide is not a serious wine reference and does not include wine reviews or judgments about the quality of the wines from the wineries, but insightful vignettes of each winery are presented. I discovered that a number of wineries beside La Rochelle do produce Pinot Noir from sourced grapes including Charles R Vineyards, Crooked Vine & Stony Ridge Wineries, Darcie Kent Vineyards, Elliston Vineyards, Fenestra, Page Mill Winery, Rodrique Molyneaux, Wente Vineyards, Westover Vineyards, and White Crane.

This is a useful book to throw in the glove compartment of your car as you tour the region. Maps, lodging, restaurants and things to do and see in the Livermore Valley are presented in detail. A mobile version of the guide would be even more helpful.

The Cakebread Cellars American Harvest Cookbook Celebrating Wine, Food, and Friends in the Napa Valley

Jack and Dolores Cakebread and Brian Streeter (Culinary Director of Cakebread Cellars) with Janet Fletcher, Ten Speed Press, 2011, hardcover, 190 pp, $35

This book features recipes from the American Harvest Workshop hosted by the Cakebreads each September during harvest season. The release of this cookbook in 2011 coincides with the 25th anniversary of this event which is held over four days at River Ranch Vineyard in the Napa Valley. Five chefs from the United States are invited each year and attendees include a mix of trade people, journalists, and the public. 100 seasonal recipes are included by such famous chefs as Gary Danko, Herbert Keller and Charlie Trotter. The recipes focus on local (“locavore”) sources of food and therefore California cuisine, and a number of them have been streamlined for home cooks.

Scattered throughout the book are informative profiles of the winery’s purveyors such as Devil’s Gulch Ranch rabbit and Liberty duck, and the book’s appendix includes sources for difficult to find ingredients. The book is intended to be a working cookbook rather than a glamorous picture book, with color photographs included primarily for guidance. I tried a few of the recipes successfully, including Fennel-Brined Pork Chops with Quince Chutney and Slow-Roasted King Salmon with Garden Herbs, both of which clicked beautifully with Pinot Noir from my cellar. This is a user-friendly and wine-friendly cookbook that includes a number of recipes using wine in the preparation.

In addition to the newer books reviewed above on Pinot Noir, I have compiled a list of previously published books to stock your library below. A few of these, such as North American Pinot Noir, are available in e-book format.

The Complete Pinotphile’s Library

North American Pinot Noir, John Winthrop Haeger

Pacific Pinot Noir A Comprehensive Winery Guide for Consumer and Connoisseur, John Winthrop Haeger

Passion for Pinot, photography by Andrea Johnson & Robert Holmes, text by Gordon MacKay

Essential Wines and Wineries of the Pacific Northwest, Cole Danehower, photography by Andrea Johnson

A Wine Journey Along the Russian River, Steve Heimoff

Santa Barbara County Wineries, Janet Penn Franks

The Heartbreak Grape, Marq De Villiers

The Grail A year ambling & shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir wine in the whole wide world, Brian Doyle

The Boys Up NorthDick Erath and the early Oregon winemakers, Paul Pintarich

Vineyard Memoirs or “So this is what it’s like to plant a vineyard?”, Oregon Wine Pioneer Recollections of Living, Grape-Growing and Winemaking in the 1970s, Kerry McDaniel Boenisch

Sideways and Vertical, Rex Pickett

The Great Domaines of Burgundy, Remington Norman

The Wines of Burgundy, Clive Coats, MW

Inside Burgundy, Jasper Morris

Adventures in Burgundy, photography by Lincoln Russell

The Pearl of the Cote: The Great Wines of Vosne-Romanée, Allen Meadows

Romanée-Conti, Richard Olney

The Science of Wine, Jamie Goode

The Taste of Wine, Emile Peynaud

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The Prince, A Scrooge?

Bah,Humbug! to sweeping pronouncements about vintages, regions, etc. At this year’s Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience, contributing editor Matt Kramer hosted a session on Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. He called the extreme Sonoma Coast the source of “the most profound Pinot Noirs grown in America today.” I do love many of the Pinot Noirs originating in the true or extreme Sonoma Coast, but to make such a statement belittles the incredible Pinot Noirs produced by Calera Wine Company at Mt. Harlan, by Hanzell Vineyards on Sonoma Mountain, and by Mount Eden and Rhys Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, to name a few.

Bah, Humbug! to heavy glass bottles. Wine writers hate them (ie Dan Berger, Paul Gregutt), sommeliers despise them, and I dislike them. They don’t fit into my home Vinoteque wine cabinet and they are unwieldy to pour from. Lifting cases of heavy bottles can lead to serious back problems (a case of heavy bottles weights about 43 pounds) and cases of heavy bottles are more expensive to ship. Glass represents anywhere from 50 to 73 percent of a winery’s carbon footprint and switching to lighter weight bottles can greatly reduce the carbon footprint and save wineries money. I assume their popularity among wineries is loosely based on the perception that consumers will consider the wine contained therein of higher quality and worth the often higher prices. I don’t think wine reviewers are impressed or influenced by the massive bottles and huge punts.

Bah, Humbug! to wax closures. I would be the first to acknowledge that wax closures are pleasing to the eye and give the wine packaging a desirable flare and sophistication, if not expensive aesthetic. That said, they are a pain in the touche to deal with. After driving a worm through the wax to open the bottle, the wax invariably fragments, sending pieces everywhere including into the wine when the cork is finally liberated.

Bah, Humbug! to alcohol percentages on labels so tiny that they defy readability except for those young people gifted with 20/15 vision. The TTB requires that alcohol content appear on the label no smaller than 1 millimeter and no larger than 3 millimeters. Many vintners choose to put the alcohol content in 1mm black print on a very darkly color label, essentially hiding it, and making deciphering a challenge. I urge wineriers to put the alcohol percentage somewhere on the front or back label in a size and with enough contrast to be easily read. While your at it, can you please put the “honest” alcohol level on the bottle?

Bah, Humbug! to over-oaked Pinot Noir. It is true that no one is certain what Pinot Noir is supposed to taste like, but I seriously doubt that oak is high on the list. Kudos to the many vintners who are favoring less new oak or eliminating new oak completely.

Bah, Humbug! to wine collectors attempting to sell wines from their overstocked cellars at exorbitant prices. Don’t pay absurd prices on the secondary market for so-called cult Pinot Noirs! They just aren’t worth it. I recently bought some Pinot Noirs from a serious wine collector in Southern California who needs to thin his cellar. Admirably, he is selling the wines at his cost. Some of the producers available reads like a who’s who in the PinotFile: A.P. Vin, Arcadian, Arista, Benovia, Clos Pepe, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, DuMOL, Kanzler, Kosta Browne, Kutch, Littorai, Loring, MacPhail, Native 9, Peay, Penner-Ash, Privé, Radio-Coteau, Rhys Vineyards, Rivers-Marie, ROCO, Sea Smoke, Skewis, Stoller, WesMar and Williams Selyem. The wines have been properly cellared after their acquisition directly from the wineries. To obtain the list of wines for sale contact dave@loverofwine.com.

Bah, Humbug! to the explosion of scores of American Pinot Noir at or above 90 out of 100 points, the result of so-called “creeping grade inflation.” The blog, Fermentation, written by Tom Wark, recently noted that 78% of the 2009 California Pinot Noirs rated by Robert Parker, Jr., were given a score of 90 points or better. Certainly 2009 was a great vintage for Pinot in California, but it isn’t realistic to think that so many wines deserved such exalted scores. It seems to me that every winery I know has a Pinot Noir that has scored 90 or above by some publication or competition. The recent tasting report by James Laube in the Wine Spectator was more realistic. Even though Laube raved about the 2009 California Pinot Noirs (“09 is head and shoulders above any other vintage in California Pinot Noir history”), 55% of the 350 wines tasted achieved a score of 90 or above which was the best performance for this category ever. Writers have pointed out that this grade inflation decries the 100 point scoring system because so many wines are considered superior. All the more reason not to chase high scoring wines but rather pursue a producer with a broad work of excellence.

Bah, Humbug! to those who are afraid to trust their own palate. If you like it, then it is a good wine. There is no accounting for taste. As wine importer Neal Rosenthal has proclaimed, “Your taste is your own. Your patrimony. You play with it as you play with your hands.” Wine critics can enhance and direct your wine experience, but they cannot be your wine experience. There are very few really bad Pinot Noirs from reputable sources on the market today. Be more concerned with differences than what is good or bad.

Bah, Humbug! to consumers who equate price with quality or quality with price. You know who you are. You believe the best Pinot Noir costs the most and vice versa. It is true that you get what you pay for and many of the best Pinot Noirs are expensive, but you may find you get equal enjoyment from any number of modestly priced Pinot Noirs. As Alex Hunt has pointed out, we should seek the opposite tendency and equate desirability with quality. My suggestion is to gather several wine drinking buddies, bag a dozen Pinot Noirs priced from $18 to $100, and then taste and rate individual preferences blind. If you can’t bear to do it with friends, do it by yourself with your dog by your side, because he will be oblivious to your embarrassment. A study by Johan Almenberg and Anna Dreber in the Journal of Wine Economics (Vol. 6, No.1, pp 110-121, 2011) designed an experiment to examine how knowledge about price of a wine affects how the wine is experienced. They found that disclosing a high price before tasting the wine produced considerably higher ratings, but only from women. Disclosing a low price did not result in lower ratings. I think the results would be different if the people tested were experienced wine drinkers.

Bah, Humbug! to the excess of single-vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings. The truth is that blended wines can offer more nuances and complexity, more consistency, and are often priced less than single vineyard Pinot Noirs. This year’s number one wine among the Top 100 in the Wine Spectator is the 2009 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir which is a blend of three vineyards. The fact is, many vineyards are not worthy of single-vineyard designation. That said, single-vineyard Pinot Noirs can be the most stunning of all Pinot Noir wines and all but three of my 2011 California and Oregon Pinot Noir All-Americans are single-vineyard designates.

Bah, Humbug! to label kissers. Don’t drink labels. As University of California at Davis Professor Dr. Maynard Amerine has said, “It is not the year, the producer, or even the label that determines the quality of the wine; it is the wine in the glass, whatever the label or producer or year.”

Bah, Humbug! to uninformative, lackluster winery websites. Wineries should disclose as much information about themselves and their wines as possible on their website. Pinot geeks clamor for it and wine writers need it. Provide copies of all wine labels; these visual images help the consumer to connect and assist the wine press in spreading the winery’s image. Include an e-mail address for contacting the winemaker for questions. Keep the information current.

*”Bah Humbug” wine glasses available from www.hourglassstudio.com.

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Pinot Briefs

No Sulfites in “Organic Wine” The United States National Organic Standards Board recently passed a ruling that prohibits sulfites from being added to “organic wine.” A subcommittee had previously advised to allow inclusion of sulfites in “organic wine.” “Biodynamic wines” are unaffected by the ruling and can contain sulfites. The decision on “organic wines” falls in line with other foods that display the preservative-free USDA organic seal.

Czar Foods Pinot Noir Sauces Jack and Stefan Czarnecki, chefs at the Joel Palmer House Restaurant in the Willamette Valley, have released four new Pinot Noir sauces made from fruit from Resonance Vineyard. The sauces include The Czar’s Pinot-Pepper Sauce, The Czar’s Pinot-Chipotle Sauce, The Czar’s Pinot-Habanero Sauce, and The Czar’s Pinot Szechuan Sauce. Contact Michael Alberty at www.StoretellerWine.com located in Portland, Oregon for more information and to buy ($7.95 a bottle).

Winemaking and Surgery I am a retired eye surgeon and the comparison of winemaking to surgery in Dutton-Goldfield Winery’s latest newsletter caught my interest. Winemaker Dan Goldfield’s spouse is a surgeon and Dan himself originally started out to be a doctor. He points out a few similarities and differences between the two crafts. Why being a winemaker is like a surgeon: (1) The best craftspeople know when to wait, or do nothing, (2) A clean and organized workplace gives a superior outcome, (3) Sometimes our mistakes smell bad, (4) People who love to talk about their last 100 experiences with our professions bore us, (5) One long night at a crucial time can avoid endless unsuccessful efforts later, (6) It’s about the customer, not the provider, and (7) One person gets all the credit, though it takes many who care to do the work. Ways in which winemaking is different: (1) Nobody dies when a winemaker screws up, (2) Winemakers don’t get paid if they screw up, (3) Wine is a great barter product but few want to trade for surgery, (4) There are far more home winemakers than home surgeons, and (5) Harvest only lasts a month or two. Dutton-Goldfield Winery is located in Sebastopol and produces an outstanding range of wines including Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. Visit the website at www.duttongoldfield.com.

Mobile App to Assist Wine Shoppers The Northern California retail chain of 124 supermarkets known as Raley’s Family of Fine Stores is offering shoppers a free mobile app for iPhone and Android devices that assists shoppers in choosing wine from the bewildering number of offerings in a market’s wine aisles. Created by Hello Vino, Inc., the mobile app will direct shoppers to the proper wine from the supermarket’s inventory that matches personal taste preferences, price point, and suitability for certain foods. For more information, visit www.HelloVino.com.

Vancouver Microbiologist Aims at Making Wine Healthier The story of Hennie van Vuuren’s research is profiled in Macleans.ca by Ken MacQueen (November 17, 2011). At the Wine Research Center at the University of British Columbia, Vuuren has invested seven years of research to create a GMO malolactic yeast (ML01) that eliminates the biomine allergens in finished wines that cause headaches. Vuuren himself is a wine lover and suffers from wine-induced headaches. The commercially available yeast is approved for use by Canadian and American authorities. Vuuren and his fellow researchers have also developed a group of yeasts that almost eliminate ethyl carbamate, a suspected carcinogen found in trace levels in wine, distilled alcoholic beverages, and bread. 80 wineries in the United States tried the yeast last year and found no differences in quality between wines made with and without the new yeast. Vuuren is also researching a yeast to reduce high levels of alcohol. Stay tuned. Visit www.macleans.ca/.

Study Suggests Beer as Good as Wine for Health Italian researchers reported in the European Journal of Epidemiology that a moderate daily intake of beer (about a pint a day) cuts the risk of heart disease by 31 percent. The researchers also found that beer was as good as wine for heart health. The results are not surprising since a pint of beer and a glass of red wine contain about the same percentage of alcohol, and most studies in this field have found alcohol to be the ingredient in both beverages most responsible for reduction in heart disease. The authors caution that excessive beer or wine intake leads to a loss of the advantage that moderate alcohol consumption confers, greatly increasing the risk of heart disease.

107-year-old Australian Woman Believes in Red Wine and Chocolate The Herald Sun reported that a 107-year-old woman recently celebrated another birthday and attributes her longevity to red wine, chocolate, fresh air, sunlight and a good cup of tea. No word about how much red wine she drinks, but it is well known that moderate amounts of wine in the elderly can have multiple health benefits including the preservation of cognitive function as well as promoting longevity.

Electronic Nose The Swiss government’s federal research station at Wädenswil has announced that their electronic nose, termed SMart Nose, is, well, smart, and threatens to replace human noses that currently do much of the work in the food industry. As reported at www.genevalunch.com (November 15, 2011), “In theory, verifying the technical aspects of a fine bottle of Pinot Noir and quantifying these, as well as being able to describe the nose, could be done by a machine.” At first glance this may threaten the livelihood of wine writers, but the machine cannot give a subjective impression or a score, at least not yet.

More Clarification on Chalone Vineyard Clones In the last issue of the PinotFile, I wrote about the presumed source of some clones planted at Calera, quoting John Haeger who said in North American Pinot Noir, “There are persistent rumors that budwood brought at various times from France found a home at Chalone. In some versions, the home was permanent and MacWood Vineyard is said to be planted to a suitcase clone. In other versions, Chalone was only a way station for the imported budwood, which was subsequently transported to other California vineyards. At this point, none of these stories can be confirmed with certainty.” In the book, “Heartbreak Grape,” Marq De Villiers, who knew Josh Jensen intimately, states, “Everyone cheerfully believes the rumors that Jensen’s Pinot Noir stock came directly from DRC itself, bypassing Customs...Or, if not directly, via Chalone. Or possibly Chalone got its cuttings from Jensen, who got them, somehow, from DRC....which he propagated on a patch of Chalone vineyard when he got to California. Jensen’s “suitcase” clones have become legend in California and have subsequently mutated into the ‘Calera clone’ in the minds of the state’s high-end pinot growers.” Dan Karlsen, the General Manager and Winemaker at Talbott Vineyards, held the same position at Chalone from 1997 to 2006 contacted me recently to clarify. He said Dick Graff’s brother told him that the Pinot Noir clone from Chalone was Martini, probably obtained from Wente in the late 1940s. He believes there were no suitcase clones at Chalone. Karlsen was at Chalone when the original 1946 plantings were pulled out and he supervised all the Pinot Noir replanting at Chalone which is 100% Dijon clones. Karlsen points out that it is true that Chalone “harbored” some plant material for various wineries through the years, but it was all in very small patches which were never sold, never expanded into production blocks at Chalone, and now are long gone. His observation is that the Martini/Beaulieu/ Chalone clones are very similar plant material to that he has seen in Carneros, the Russian River Valley, Chalone and the Santa Lucia Highlands. Where did this original material come from? Probably Burgundy and was selected for higher vigor and crop production and its ability to make great wine in great sites.

At Home in Burgundy: The Papillon Recipes Eleanor Garvin is a professional chef who has published a selection of over 100 of her most popular recipes she collected while living in France for 25 years. She has worked with Papillon cruises (along with her husband, Denis Sherman, they bought an antique barge “Le Papillon” in 1988 and began offering catered cruises of Burgundy’s canals) and other tours and collaborated with Elden Wine. Her home is in Burgundy and the inventive recipes reflect the abundance of indigenous ingredients available there and the author’s extensive background in Burgundy’s culinary world. Early reviews on Amazon are 5-star. $19.95 (paperback). For additional information on estate bottled Burgundy wine visit www.eldenwine.com, and news about upcoming cruises visit www.papillionselect.com.

Lompoc Wine Ghetto Website I recently discovered this website (www.lompocghetto.com) and can recommend it to you for guidance in your tasting trips to the Sta. Rita Hills region. With the recent addition of Arcadian, Joseph Blair Wines and Stolpman, there are now 16 tasting rooms in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Evening Land Vineyards is moving its tasting room to a new, larger location. Notable Pinot Noir winery tasting rooms besides Arcadian in the Ghetto include Ampelos Cellars, Fiddlehead Cellars, Flying Goat Cellars, La Vie Vineyards, Longoria Wines, Loring Wine Company, Samsara and Zotovich Cellars. A number of articles in the news about the Lompoc Wine Ghetto are posted on the website. One of the tasting room, Taste of Sta. Rita Hills, which was created and is owned by Antonio Moretti of Moretti Wines, includes 11 wineries with prominent Pinot Noir producers such as Brewer-Clifton, Clos Pepe, Gypsy Canyon, Huber, Ken Brown, Sea Smoke, Seagrape and Thorne. This tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday 11:00-5:00 or by appointment.

Historic Vineyard Society (HVS) A group of winemakers and winegrowers have banded together to start the Historic Vineyard Society to establish a registry and promote the historic vineyards of California. For inclusion in the registry, the vineyard must be currently producing, date to 1960 or before, and have at least one-third of existing producing vines traceable to the original planting date. The Society has cataloged 202 historic vineyards in California with most in Sonoma County (100 vineyards), but the registry is a work in progress. Most of the existing historic vineyards, some of which are over 100 years old, are planted to Zinfandel, but unfortunately, the registry listing on the website does not specify the varieties planted in each vineyard.

Finally, A Good Laugh Chris Erskine writing in a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times, notes that his wife worries that his lowbrow understanding of wines will one day get them evicted from California for not being cool enough. In particular, he said, “She objects to me intentionally looking at wine lists upside down, then sniffing to the waiter, ‘Never heard of any of these.’” Another humorous quote comes from Rafa Ibarra of Mexico speaking about wine bloggers. “I don’t know in the USA, but here in Mexico we have a lot of wine bloggers ass kissers that only want a free glass of wine and a picture with the winemaker of the moment, like a rock star. We call them enorockstars and enogroupies. It’s sad, but it’s so true.”

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Vintner’s Night Before Christmas 2011

The harvest was risky
There was little sun
Total production was
Down by a ton

The wine was all bundled
Up snug in French oak
Fermentation awakened
Amid memories of cold soak

Who will now buy it?
And how will it be priced?
Will Parker anoint it?
Will the Prince be enticed?

Well, wait until morning
You’ve earned a respite
A cool glass of Pinot
And to all, a “Good Night”

Best Wishes, Happy Holidays, and Sweet Pinot Dreams

Prince