WOPN: 7th Heaven for Pinot Geeks

“A marvelous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one can say, ‘What’s this?’

Tasting note, William Shakespeare

It is a special time to be a Pinot Noir lover. Since the first World of Pinot Noir held in 2001, there have been remarkable advances in the growing and crafting of ultra-premium Pinot Noir in North America. Years ago at this event, one could divide the offerings pretty much into good and bad. Pinot Noir was still causing a lot of heartbreak. At this year’s 7th Annual World of Pinot Noir, held this past weekend (March 2-3) at The Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach, California, it was more like good, better, and wowee! Good Pinot Noir is true to the varietal but not much more: “whitebread” Pinot as it were. Better Pinot Noir tastes like Pinot Noir, but also shows a sense of place (terroir). And Wowee! Pinot Noir not only tastes like Pinot Noir and shows a regional character, it has a sensuality that is easy to recognize but always a challenge to describe.

It is the pursuit of this sensuality that led several hundred Pinot Geeks on a pilgrimage to the Chapel of Pinot Noir on the Central Coast. Besides outstanding seminars, meals, and camaraderie, there was the opportunity to taste the Pinot Noirs of almost 160 producers in walk-around tastings on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Winemakers were in abundance and eager to speak Pinot (see photos, page 2). This event is really a joyous and convivial festival and the large and enthusiastic throng prevents any serious geeky tasting. It is best to gather one’s self at the end of the day, recline in a comfortable chair overlooking the ocean, and while staring at your purple-stained finger tips and your disgustingly dirty wine stem, pull back and leisurely savor some of the dreamy wines from the recesses of your day’s memory.

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Kathy Joseph and husband Tom Doyle, Fiddlehead

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Paul Lato and friend, Paul Lato Wines

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Jonathan Pey, Pey-Marin Vineyards

I spent some of my time interviewing winemakers for Grape Radio. These chats with Paul Austin (Native 9 and Alta Maria), Scott Rich (Talisman Cellars), Kiwi Dean Shaw (Nevis Bluff), and Annette Hoff (Cima Collina) will be featured in a future podcast at www.graperadio.com. Many other winemakers and wine personalities were interviewed by the Grape Radio crew as part of their coverage of this event. Eric Anderson is pictured with winemaker Mike Sinor of Sinor-LaValle). StmlImage: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'thumb_paul_lato.jpg'
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It was impossible to visit and taste with all of the producers at the event. I did come away with a few general impressions of interest.

1. Woman winemakers have a nice touch with Pinot Noir. They seem to have great success in capturing the delicate texture and elegant nuances of the grape. As David Autrey (Westrey Wines in Oregon) has said, “Women show a sense of balance in winemaking that you don’t see with men.” There were several examples here including Cima Collina (Annette Hoff), Fiddlehead (Kathy Joseph), and Lane Tanner Wines (Lane Tanner).

2. There is considerable interest in alternative closures. Dean Shaw, a Kiwi winemaker, said that New Zealand wineries were fed up with bad corks and he, personally, has gone to the screw cap closure for Pinot Noir. Peter Rosback of Sineann (Oregon) has changed over to glass stoppers for his wines. The advantages are several: they produce a very secure and tight closure, they can be reinserted after opening, they are very resistant to breakage, and they are recyclable. He feels the screw cap closure is fragile and prone to breakage with loss of a complete seal if handled roughly. He is using a German glass stopper with a traditional foil cap. Josh Jensen of Calera was displaying glass closures at his table.

3. Many winemakers are wrestling with style. In a perfect world, most would opt for a classic, elegant style of Pinot Noir with nicely balanced composition of good acid and moderate alcohol. However, the Cab-centric consumers and many wine critics prefer a bolder, fruit-forward style readily drinkable upon release.

4. Unfortunately, Pinot to envy is fast becoming a rich man’s sport. Because of the increased costs of farming Pinot Noir, as well as its limited plantings, the price of Pinot Noir from top vineyards has risen. All of the costs in making fine Pinot Noir have escalated. Higher prices breed higher prices, because no producer wants to under price his wine. This can give the consumer the impression that the wine is not up to the standards of the more expensive bottles. Could triple figures soon be the rule?

There were many flat-out great Pinots at this event and there were considerably more that I never had the opportunity to sample. The quality was very high every where I sipped and spat. It was saddening to see so much great Pinot Noir dumped from spit cups at this event. The 2005 vintage in the Central Coast of California is a stunner and maybe the best ever! Here are some producers with ‘wowee!’ wines and many others that were perfectly fine.

WOWEE! PINOTS

Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards It always is nice to see Richard Sanford pouring his wines at these events. Despite many years in the Santa Barbara County wine scene, and one of the first to plant Pinot Noir (Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in 1971) in the Ste. Rita Hills appellation, he is still enthusiastic, and speaks patiently with all who come by to say hello. A couple of years ago he left his namesake winery, Sanford, and began his own label, Alma Rosa with wife Thekla. He retained over 100 acres of certified organic estate vineyards including the La Encantada Vineyard. The winemaker at Alma Rosa is Christian Roguenant. The Alma Rosa temporary tasting room in Buellton is open from 11:00 to 4:00 daily. Website: www.almarosa.com.

Alta Maria Winery & Vineyards College buddies Paul Wilkins and James Ontiveros are partners in Native9 as well as this new label created in 2005. Their debut release was poured at WOPN. Paul has considerable experience in Rhone varietals, having apprenticed with John Alban (Alban Cellars) for several years, and also makes a Grenache from the Uriel J. Nielson Vineyard. James is a master winegrower who has a knack with Pinot Noir. He and Paul are planning to find small, hidden vineyard sites in the Santa Maria Valley that can offer wines of great distinction. The phone is 805- 934-5206. The website is www.altamaria.com.

Arcadian Winery Joe Davis is a cerebral winemaker whose goal is to create wines for long aging. He is an advocate of the Burgundian model, and inexperienced tasters may find the wines a bit austere upon release. But those with patience will be rewarded. Joe was pouring his 1997 Pisoni Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (the oldest wine I saw poured at the event) and this was one fine mature Pinot. Joe sources his grapes from several notable vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, and Santa Lucia Highlands. His wines (including some older vintages) are available on the website at www.arcadianwinery.com.

I also sampled the 2003 Arcadian Dierberg Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir ($50) and the 2003 Rio Vista Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir ($65) and both were hitting on all cylinders.

Cima Collina A small-lot garage-styled producer with a talented winemaker, Annette Hoff. The winery sources grapes from family-owned vineyards in the Monterey region, as well as the winery’s own vineyard at Hilltop Ranch in Carmel Valley. Cima Collina is Italian for hill top. The website is www.cimacollina.com or phone 831-384-7806. Look for the interview with Annette on an upcoming Grape Radio podcast. The blog on the Cima Collina website is extremely informative and a recent award winner among wine blogs.

Fiddlehead Cellars I don’t know of another winemaker in the business who has more energy and passion than owner Kathy Joseph. Her Fiddlestix Vineyard is now one of the most desirable sources for Pinot Noir in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. She was pouring a mini vertical of her Lollapalooza (try saying that after a few glasses of Pinot), which is composed of the best barrels in her cellar. Lollapalooza is an old English term meaning “best of its kind.” The Fiddlechix lineup of wines are available at www.fiddleheadcellars.com. But I suggest you take a trip to Lompoc and catch Kathy in her native environment for a real Pinot experience (1597 E. Chestnut, 805-742-0204).

Flying Goat Cellars Owner and winemaker Norm Yost is a veteran winemaker in Santa Barbara County whose label specializes in limited quantities of vineyard designated Pinot Noirs from the Central Coast. He crafts his beautiful Pinot Noirs in a small winery in the Lompoc ghetto. The phone is 805-688- 1814 and the website www.flyinggoatcellars.com.

Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery This small artisan producer of fine Pinot Noir is located at the historic Russian settlement of Fort Ross a few miles from the Pacific Ocean on the extreme or true Sonoma Coast. Noted winemaker Ed Kurtzman (Freeman and August West) crafts some very stylish Pinot Noirs here.

The owners honor their South African heritage by planting and producing a Pinotage (a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut) as well and I am told it is one of the best examples produced in the world! I applaud the winery for encouraging the diversity of wine in all of its expressions. There is actually a fan club for Pinotage (www.pinotage.blogspot.com). The Fort Ross wines are available on the website at www.fortrossvineyard.com.

J. Wilkes Jeff Wilkes worked for many years at Bien Nacido Vineyard in a number of capacities. He began his first foray in winemaking with the start of the J. Wilkes label in 2001. He uses grapes from selected blocks of the Bien Nacido Vineyard and Solomon Hills Vineyard. Jeff also produces a very credible Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir’s pale twin. Call Jeff at 805-899-2845. Www.jwilkes.com.

Lane Tanner Winery Lane Tanner has a lot of flare and a great sense of humor. Since she was mentored by the late, great Andre Tchelistcheff, she has taken the title of Pinot Czarina in his honor. Lane is a one-woman winery. She has a style and sticks to it: picks her fruit often earlier than others, looks for exciting tastes and not overripe flavors; uses oak judiciously so you never think oak when you taste her wines, and seeks a substantial acid backbone that portends a long life and a good time at the table. Her wines are available at www.lanetanner.com, and are very well priced. See feature story in a future edition of the PinotFile on the full lineup of Lane Tanner Pinot Noirs.

Lost Canyon Winery This is a winery of true gargariste origins, beginning in a garage in Montclair Hills of California 25 years ago. Today, the urban winery resides in a turn of the century building near the childhood home of Jack London on the Oakland waterfront. Three Pinot Noirs are produced from vineyards in Los Carneros and Russian River Valley. I have been a fan of the wines since their first release in 2001. The 2005 lineup has a more elegant slant. A full report on the wines will be forthcoming in another issue. The wines are available at www.lostcanyonwinery.com.

Melville Melville is a very innovative estate winery in the Santa Rita Hills that farms an extensive clonal diversity of Pinot Noir. Their estate small lot collection for 2005 includes High Density (172 cases, $46), Clone 115 Indigene (171 cases, $46), Terraces (818 cases, $52), and Carrie’s (816 cases, $52). The wines are available from the winery at 805-735-7030 and www.melvillewinery.com.

Paul Hobbs Winery Paul Hobbs has a colorful winemaking background. He rose to notoriety at Simi in the mid 1980s, subsequently made wine in Argentina, consulted for Peter Michael, Fisher, Lewis and Chalone, and most recently has a winemaking project in Hungary. He started his namesake label in 1991. In 1998 he planted his estate vineyard, Lindsay Vineyard, located near Graton in the Russian River Valley and named it in honor of his father. In 2003 he built a winery overlooking this vineyard.

Hobbs is also releasing a 2005 Ulises Valdez Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and a 2005 Hyde Vineyard Carneros Pinot Noir. The wines are sold through a mailing list at www.paulhobbs.com. The wines were offered for sale at the WOPN and a call to the winery at 707-824-9879 may be rewarded.

Paul Lato Wines Paul Lato bleeds Pinot Noir. He is a rare individual of great passion who is humble yet aristocratic, both humorous and charming, and with a smile that shows a zest for wine and the good life. Paul told me I was smart to be a Prince, because “Kings sit around doing nothing with their clothes off, and the Prince actually runs the show and knows everything that is going on.” Paul is from Poland via Canada and his small production of Pinot Noir and Syrah each year (250 cases) has had a big impact on the Central Coast wine scene. His unique wines are sold through a mailing list at www.paullatowines.com or through the Wine Cask futures program. Paul also makes a Syrah in the Pinot style which is to die for.

Scott Paul Wines Two of Scott Wright’s inspirations and mentors were Greg La Follette and Ted Lemon. He is dedicated to handcrafting Oregon Pinot Noir using low yields (less than 1.7 tpa), organic/biodynamic viticulture, wild yeast fermentations, and limited use of new oak (no more than 20%). Alcohols are sensible (the 2004 and 2005 Le Paulée Pinots Noirs he was pouring were in the 13.1-13.8% range. He bottles his wines under Stelvin screw capclosures. Scott’s Pinot Noirs are all about elegance and finesse. He personally exudes a soft spoken and unassuming passion for Pinot Noir. His winery and tasting room are located in Carlton at 128 S. Pine St. and the wines are also sold on the website at www.scottpaul.com. Scott also imports Burgundies and his website is filled with information on Burgundy.

TR Elliott Theodore R Elliott has come to Pinot Noir late in his winemaking career. He spent considerable time crafting Cabernet at Carmenet Winery and then Chardonnay at Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. His launched the TR Elliott label in 2002 with his family. The two 2004 releases were poured from magnum at WOPN. The wines are available on the website at www.elliottfamilycellars.com or phone 707-291-4559.

Talisman Cellars Scott Rich learned his craft under Tony Soter at Etude in Carneros. He started his small label in 1993. Scott is a lover of unique terroir and he searches high and low for vineyards that are challenging and expressive. “I like to express terroir - that is the beauty of Pinot Noir - and that comes through in the more extreme vineyards.” Each of his bottlings are typically 200-300 cases. Last year I tasted through a vertical of his Pinot Noirs (see Volume 5 of the Pinot- File) and found them to be terrific wines that showed their age extremely well. Look for a podcast interview of Scott Rich on Grape Radio in the near future. Scott’s wines are sold through a mailing list at www.talismancellars.com. The phone number is 707-258-5722.

The Donum Estate Anne Moller-Racke knows Carneros. She has tended the vines here for more than 20 years. Since leaving Buena Vista in 2001, she has concentrated on one estate Pinot Noir (The Donum Estate) and the wines of Robert Stemmler both sourced from the over 250 acre estate she retained adjacent to the Buena Vista property (originally named Tula Vista, it was rechristened The Donum Estate) The current winemaker is Kenneth Juhasz (also of Auteur). Anne was pouring a vertical of the Donum Estate Pinot Noir, 2003- 2004-2005. These are very Burgundian and earthy-styled Pinot Noirs, with explosive flavors of plums, candied cherries and a touch of game. Full and expansive in the mouth, they are classy and polished Pinot Noirs.

The wines are in the 600 case production range and sold through the website at www.thedonumestate.com.

PERFECTLY FINE PINOTS

2005 Cargasacchi/Point Concepcion Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir

2004 Churchill Cellars Bella Luna Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

2005 Elkhorn Peak Cellars Napa Valley Pinot Noir

2004 Keller Estate Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

2004 Ken Brown Cargasacchi Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir

2004 Red Car Amour Fou RRV Pinot Noir and 2005 The Aphorist Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

2004 Schug Carneros Estate Pinot Noir

2003 Rippon Central Otago Pinot Noir

2005 Tantara Silacci Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

2004 Thomas Fogerty Winery Rapley Trail Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir

2005 Windward Vineyard Monopole Paso Robles Pinot Noir

Cargasacchi Dinner & Tasting

One of the offline events I attended was a comprehensive tasting of Cargasacchi Vineyard and Jalama Vineyard Pinot Noirs. Cargasacchi Vineyard is 16 acres planted in 1999 to Dijon clone 115 (scion selection from Burgundy’s Morey Saint Denis), and located at the extreme west end of the Santa Rita Hills (an excellent map of many of the vineyards and wineries in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation is available at www.staritahills.com). The soils are ancient sea floor sediment. Peter Cargasacchi is a meticulous farmer who continues in his family’s farming heritage which dates to the early 1900s. A second vineyard, Jalama, was planted a couple of years ago in the Jalama area outside of Lompoc. His grapes have been highly sought after. Many of the winemakers who source fruit from Peter were at the event. The table was filled with 46 wines! In addition, the last wines started by Michael Bonacorssi before his untimely death in 2004 and finished by Greg Brewer, were opened. Stories about Michael were affectionately bantered about the room and Michael was toasted for his undying commitment to crafting fine wine. Wines on the table included multiple vintages from notable producers like Ampelos, Babcock, Brewer-Clifton, Cargasacchi, Hitching Post, Ken Brown, Loring Wine Co, Point Concepción, Pali, Siduri, and Waltzing Bear. My favs: 2002 and 2005 Point Concepción Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Oh, there were also at least 50 other Pinot Noirs available for sampling from California, Oregon and Burgundy.

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Cargasacchi wines are substantial and muscular interpretations of Peter’s vineyards. For 2005, there is a Jalama Vineyard Santa Barbara County and Cargasacchi Vineyard Santa Rita Hills bottling. Point Concepción wines are described as “food friendly,” and, indeed, they are lighter-styled with more red fruit and floral highlights. The 2005 Santa Barbara County was released in February. The wines are available through a mailing list at www.pointconcepcion.com.

For more tasting notes of Cargasacchi wines, go to Eric Anderson’s excellent wine blog at www.grape-nutz.com.

Domaine Dujac Dinner

It has become a tradition to do a Burgundy tasting and dinner of some type in conjunction with the WOPN event. This year we decided to feature the red Burgundies of Domaine Dujac. For those regular readers of the PinotFile, you know I am a fan of Dujac wines. As I wrote recently, “I am no expert on Burgundy, but I know great Burgundy when I find it. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Comte de Vogue, Leroy, Rousseau, and others have their following, but Dujac really makes my taste buds stand erect. In the puzzling and confusing maize of Burgundy producers, Dujac is one domaine that you can single out as a consistent star whose wines, although difficult to come by and not inexpensive, are priced sensibly considering the quality.” Domaine Dujac was begun in 1967 and currently has holdings in Clos de la Roche, Clos St. Denis, Bonne Mares, Echezeaux and Charmes-Chambertain. The wines are all aged in 100% new oak. Owner and winemaker Jacques Seysses crafts wines that are light in color and less extracted and dense than many other Burgundy estates. Never blockbusters, they are elegant and balanced. Seysses says, “It is a mistake to take all of this too seriously. Some winemakers become big-headed and think they are changing the world. But I’m not an artist, I’m just trying to make good wine.” Jacques Seysses and his son, Jeremy, also craft a line of negocient wines under the label Dujac Fils et Perè. StmlImage: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'thumb_paul_lato.jpg'
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In between the 1996 Le Grande Dame Champagne and the 1990 Yquem, we cooed and awed over six Dujac wines. We also tried a 1999 F. Mugnier Chambolle Musigny les Fuees 1er Cru and 1999 Groffier Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru, but really, they could not offer the enchanting aromatics and flavors that the Dujac wines did.