Reach for the Middle for Pinot Noir

The Russian River Valley is a box-shaped region in northern Sonoma County, just fifteen miles on any side, its four corners consisting of the towns of Healdsburg and Guerneville in the North and Sebastopol and Santa Rosa in the South. Of the total of 126,600 acres of rolling hills, dense redwood forests and apple orchards, approximately 15,700 acres are planted to wine grapes. Pinot Noir plantings account for about one-third of this acreage.

The defining feature of the Russian River Valley is a single three-letter word: fog. Fog from the Pacific Ocean enters the Russian River Valley through the Russian River from its origins at Jenner on the Sonoma Coast in the more northern aspect of the appellation, and more significantly, from the Southwest through the Petaluma Wind Gap between Pt. Reyes and Bodega Bay toward Sebastopol, which is situated approximately ten miles south of the Russian River. The father north you go in the Russian River Valley appellation, the more the maritime influence wains and the warmer it becomes.

There is plenty of daytime warmth (the Russian River Valley is a Region II on the University of California at Davis Heat Summation Scale) in the Russian River Valley, giving way to cool nights and mornings caused by the wind-borne fog. The result of God’s air conditioning is slowed ripening and extended hang time. The winegrowers in the Russian River Valley like to say that they turn fog into Pinot Noir.

The Russian River is 105 miles in length, beginning its journey in the coastal mountains in the North near the town of Willits in Mendocino County, and winding south through the Alexander Valley before reaching the Russian River Valley. Just below the town of Healdsburg, the River takes a turn and heads west toward the Pacific Ocean. This bend in the River marks the northern extreme of the so-called Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley, the birthplace of modern Pinot Noir viticulture in the Valley, and one of seven sub-regions of the appellation that also includes the Santa Rosa Plain (Los Molinos), Windsor Hills, Laguna Ridge, Green Valley, Sebastopol Hills and Freestone. These sub-regions are not official, having been named and recognized by winegrowers and winemakers who know the Valley, and although the titled sub-regions are in common use, there are no precise boundaries established except for Green Valley which is its own appellation within the Russian River Valley. A map of the Russian River Valley and the location of these sub-regions is below.

The Middle Reach sub-region is a north-south stretch on either side of the Russian River between Healdsburg and Forestville. The western boundary is roughly marked by Westside Road and the eastern limit by Eastside Road. The southern boundary extends to the Wohler Bridge at the junction of Westside Road and Wohler Road, although some locals extend the sub-region further south on Westside Road to include Moshin, George and Gary Farrell wineries. See map below.

The first to plant Pinot Noir along Westside Road in the Middle Reach was Steve and Helen Bacigalupi in 1964. In 1968, shortly after his father passed away, Joe Rochioli Jr., in deference to his father’s wishes, planted Pinot Noir on Westside Road along the western banks of the Russian River. This became the now famous Rochioli East Block of Pinot Noir. West Block followed a year later. In 1973, Davis Bynum built the first winery on Westside Road and vinified Pinot Noir from Joe Rochioli Jr.’s first crop. The 1973 Davis Bynum Rochioli Vineyard Pinot Noir was the first Russian River Valley vineyard-designated wine. Gary Farrell was to establish his own label in 1982 while making wine for Davis Bynum, and that year Joe Rochioli Jr. and his son Tom launched the Rochioli label. The first Rochioli wines were made by Farrell at Davis Bynum. By 1985, Tom had become the full-time winemaker and Rochioli winery was built. In 1989, Williams Selyem Winery moved from their small garage winery in Fulton to a modest facility on the Allen Ranch property on Westside Road across the street from Rochioli. The Middle Reach, and Westside Road in particular, had become the crown jewel for Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley.

A drive along Westside Road in the Middle Reach can put you in a bucolic trance. The sleepy two-lane winding road has sparse automobile traffic and presents an ever-changing panorama of trees, old barns, vineyards and iconic wineries. It is my favorite stretch of wine country road in California. Heading south out of Healdsburg, the wineries appear one after the other: Alderbrook, Armida, De La Montanya, Twomey Cellars, C. Donatiello, John Tyler (Bacigalupi Vineyard), Hop Kiln, Rochioli Vineyards & Winery, Williams Selyem, Arista, Thomas George Estates, Porter Creek, Moshin Vineyards and Gary Farrell Wines. Other notable Pinot Noir producers in the Middle Reach include Castalia, Copain, Derbes, Desmond Estate Vineyards, EnRoute, Foppiano, Gracianna Vineyards, J Winery & Vineyards, Ketcham Estate, MacMurray Ranch, Matrix Winery, Mueller, Rodney Strong Vineyards, and Sapphire Hill Vineyards & Winery.

Many producers located outside the Middle Reach source grapes from the many premium vineyards in the sub-region such as Allen, Amber Ridge, Bacigalupi, Buena Tierra, Flax, Floodgate, Koplen, Rochioli, Salzberger/Chan and Widdoes vineyards.

The Middle Reach is a relatively warm sub-region because it is inland and more isolated from the maritime effect, particularly in its northern limits where it can be downright hot in the summer. Vineyards are planted primarily on the plains on either side of the Russian River. Soils are alluvial type composed of silt, clay, sand and gravel and thus well-drained. The wines tend to have a high degree of ripeness, with rich, bright, even flashy fruit, with an intense Bing cherry, wild strawberry, cola and spice profile. Alcohols can be generous, tannins tend to be moderate and velvety, and acidity veers to the bright side. In summary, Middle Reach Pinot Noir is hard to say no to.

Some representative Middle Reach Pinot Noirs are reviewed below. The words “Middle Reach” do not appear on the front labels, but some wineries include the words on the back label description of the wine to emphasize the prestigious location of the winery or the vineyard where the grapes were sourced. Expect to pay about $60 and up for top-end Middle Reach Pinot Noirs, but many excellent wines from this sub-region of the Russian River Valley can be found for less.

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Preview of 2008 Pinots from J Vineyards & Winery

J Vineyards & Winery was established in 1986 and became one of California’s marquee producers of méthode champenoise sparkling wine. J Vintage Brut, J Cuvée 20 Brut, J Late-Disgorged Vintage Brut, and J Brut Rosé have all been highly lauded. The yellow J logo on sparkling wine bottles is an instantly recognizable brand label and a mark of quality that personifies the winery’s byline, “The essence of style.”

J produced still Pinot Noir beginning in 1994, but the wines were not distinguished. In early 2006, Judy Jordan and her management team made a dramatic decision to reduce sparkling wine output, while still maintaining its excellence, and commit to a still wine program that would compete with other top wineries in the region. Veteran Sonoma County winemaker George Bursick was brought in as Vice President of Winemaking, John Erbe was added as Viticulturist, and Kathryn Lindstrom became the new General Manager and Chief Financial Officer. The J logo was retained for the sparkling wines, and a new label design (below right) was developed for the J Vineyard still wines.

Bursick left a long tenure at Ferrari-Carano Winery to join J and notes among his many influences California winemaker icons John Parducci, Walter Schug and Justin Meyer. The first fully executed vintage of varietal wines at J vinified by George Bursick were from the 2006 vintage and were released in 2008. It has taken two more vintages for Bursick to assemble his preferred winemaking equipment and to solidify his winemaking program. I recently visited J Vineyards & Winery and tasted through the 2008 lineup of Pinot Noirs that were bottled in January 2010 and scheduled for release in January 2011. The wines are distributed in all 50 states and Canada. Some 2007 bottlings are still available and are worth pursuing as well (see review of the 2007 J Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir in the previous article on the Middle Reach).

I came away impressed with the potential of the 2008 Pinot Noirs, all of which had Bursick’s signature silky smooth texture. Bursick noted that 2008 was a “warm and wonderful year with concentrated flavors.” Some of Bursick’s winemaking techniques, such as total oxygen deprivation and seed removal, cause the wines to evolve slowly but provide them with longevity. The former was confirmed by my October 2010 tasting at which time the wines were still youthful and not evolved. The winery’s Chardonnay is fine, the Pinot Gris is the best produced in California, and the sparkling wines retain their world-class position.

Bursick is something of an iconoclast, preferring to try approaches that his peers are not willing to do. He has observed that in Burgundy, the grapes achieve seed ripeness but not sugar ripeness, while in California there is sugar ripeness without corresponding seed ripeness. As a result, he chooses to de-stem the grapes and remove the seeds from the winemaking process. In this way, the seed tannins, which are undesirable when unripe and alcohol soluble, are removed from the process. The result is wines that are stylistically low in tannins and possess a supple mouth feel.

After joining J Vineyards & Winery, Bursick, along with Erbe, instituted a number of innovative viticultural practices focused on site-specific blocks that are farmed individually and harvested separately. A modern computer program has been used to create a modeling profile of all the soils of the estate vineyards. This knowledge is critical for precision viticulture and not without significant complexity, as there are many different soil types in the Russian River Valley, even more diversity than in Burgundy.

At the winery, individual blocks are kept separate (84 separate Pinot Noir lots, 9 different rootstocks, 14 different Pinot Noir clones) to feature each vineyard’s character. The different blocks are then exposed to a number of variables including the use of indigenous and rare, exotic yeasts (some Burgundian strains dating to 1940) and malolactic strains, a variety of punch down regimens, slow fermentations (malolactic fermentation lasts 2 to 4 months with no nutrients added to speed up the process), 2 week post primary fermentation macerations, unique French Burgundian tight-grain cooperage for different wine lots, and battonage during aging. The fermentation program is similar for Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are aged in 30%-50% new French oak barrels for 12 months.

J farms ten estate vineyards consisting of 257 planted acres of diverse hillside and valley floor vineyards primarily throughout the Middle Reach, in the northeastern sub-region of the Russian River Valley appellation. Recently, three new Russian River Valley estate vineyards were acquired which will be dedicated to varietal wine. The new Sally Ann’s Vineyard, Bow Tie Vineyard, and Dotty Stan Vineyard acquisitions accompanied the sale of three vineyards previously designated for J’s sparkling wine. The Pinot Noir vineyards include: Nicole’s Vineyard (45.8 acres of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir clones 2A, Dijon 113 and 115), Robert Thomas Vineyard (47 acres of Pinot Noir, clones 15, 2A, 31, Rochioli, and Dijon 667 and 777), Sally Ann’s Vineyard (16.5 acres of Pinot Noir, clones Pommard, Dijon 667, 777, 828, 943, planted in the spring 2009), Dotty Stan Vineyard (14.5 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, scheduled for planting in 2010), Nonny’s Vineyard (70 acres of Pinot Noir, clones Pommard, Calera, Dijon 115, 667, 777 and 828, undergoing conversion to sparkling wine production), Teardrop Vineyard (.5 acre Pinot Noir demonstration vineyard adjacent J Visitor Center), and Bow Tie Vineyard (37.8 acres alongside Westside Road, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Pinot Noir clones Swan, Dijon 667, 777, 828, 943, and 115, planted in late 2008).

J Vineyards & Winery has a modern and inviting Visitor Center which is open daily for tasting at 11447 Old Redwood Highway in Healdsburg. The J Visitor Center was the first in the Russian River Valley to offer wine tastings with seasonal food pairings. Visitors can reserve a tasting in the Bubble Room ($60 per person) that offers seating and table service. A seasonal three-course menu created by J Executive Chef Mark E. Caldwell compliments J’s three distinct wine styles: white wines, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wine. Two wines from each category are offered plus a taste of J’s Ratafia dessert wine at the conclusion of the tasting menu. I have brought a number of people to the Bubble Room tasting and my guests have always been extremely impressed by the wines, the food and the ambiance. J’s white wines, Cuvée 20 Brut NV and Brut Rosé, and the Russian River Valley appellation blend Pinot Noir are in widespread retail distribution. The limited production Pinot Noir bottlings and Late Disgorged sparkling wine are primarily winery-only offerings.

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Talisman Continues to Excel

Last year I wrote a feature on Scott and Marta Rich and the outstanding age worthy Pinot Noirs they have been producing since 1993. I have tasted Scott’s wines dating back to the 1997 vintage and have had nothing but high praise for every release I have sampled. The three 2007 wines reviewed below are no exception.

Scott is a lover of unique Pinot Noir terroirs and searches for sites that are challenging but expressive. He says, “I like to express terroir - that is the beauty of Pinot Noir - and that comes through in the more extreme vineyard sites.”

Scott believes his wines best express their terroir after some aging so he directs his winemaking toward producing wines with potential for longevity. He notes, “I make my wines to age, even if on one gives them a chance.” Because of his insistence on age ability, his wines are not flashy when young. Aware of this, he carefully barrel and bottle ages his wines before offering them so they are approachable upon release. His current releases reviewed below are from the 2007 vintage and have been released at a time when some producers are already releasing their 2009 vintage wines.

Scott’s refined winemaking style leads to consistently classic Pinot Noir that is pure, nuanced and balanced. You won’t find any jelly jar blockbusters, but the wines are not wimpy by any means. As you read through the reviews below, you will find a consistency of quality combined with a distinctiveness that reflects each wine’s unique site of origin. The 2007 Pinot Noirs show a more gentle touch and are more approachable than usual. That said, all the wines will age very well. I suggest buying several bottles of your favorites, lay them down in your cellar, and follow their progress over the next 10 to 15 years. It could be a revelation.

Talisman small production Pinot Noirs are sold online at www.talismanwine.com and through a mailing list. The wines are reasonably priced considering the high quality. The small winery is in the town of Sonoma in a somewhat hidden enclave of artisan wineries (Eighth Street Wineries - www.eighthstreetwineries.com). Tasting is by appointment (707-258-5722). Scott and Marta are very gracious and you will thoroughly enjoy a visit to their humble winery.

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Iconic Calera Wine Company: 32 Vintages of Estate Pinot Noir

“Calera is one of the most compelling Pinot Noir specialists, of not only
the New World but of Planet Earth. Credit must be extended to its
visionary founder, proprietor Josh Jensen. Ironically, today Jensen
rarely gets the acclaim that these wines merit.”
Marq De Villiers, The Heartbreak Grape

Is there another California winery with such a track record of continuous excellence? In the rush to find the next small cult Pinot Noir producer, the wine lover often forgets about the wineries that have proven their metal over time. Year in and year out, Calera releases wines of uncommon complexity and age ability, often attracting more interest from adoring fans outside the United States than stateside pinotphiles (42.7% of total sales so far in 2010 are in the export marketplace, particularly Japan).

In 1975, when Josh Jensen first planted his vines on a remote property in the Gavilan Mountains, he was among a few pioneers at the time who were attempting to farm and produce Pinot Noir in California. Dick Graff had preceded Jensen by ten years at Chalone, located just north of Calera in the same Gavilan Mountain Range in California’s San Benito County. Others included Richard Sanford in Santa Barabara County, David Bruce and Merry Edwards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Joseph Swan, Bob Pellegrini and Joe Rochioli in the Russian River Valley, Tony Husch in the Anderson Valley, and Francis Mahoney in Carneros. As it would turn out, despite the diversity of microclimates each grower settled on, all of them proved very successful.

There was only one innovator other than Graff who based his whole success on limestone. A student and fervent lover of the wines of Burgundy, Jensen was convinced that it was the limestone in the soil of Burgundy that made the wines so special. Jensen has said, “Here in this country, the establishment doesn’t think limestone is important. I didn’t waste my time debating it. I just saw where the great Burgundies grow and decided to let my wines do the talking.”

Jensen’s remarkable story was first told in detail in 1993 in the first edition of the book, The Heartbreak Grape: A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir, written by Marq de Villiers. A revised and updated version was published in 2006. Jensen’s saga is an inspiration for anyone hoping to follow a passion for Pinot Noir. After thirty-two vintages of Calera Estate Pinot Noir, his initial heartbreaking efforts have found vindication, and Pinot Noir from California, and in particular those from Calera, can hold their own to the best from Burgundy. Read my extensive coverage of the history of Calera and my review of the 2005 Calera wines in a previous issue of the PinotFile (www.princeofpinot.com/article/129/).

Calera wines are vinified in a 7-tier gravity flow winery built into the side of a mountain. Non interventionist techniques are employed including native yeast and whole cluster fermentations, and minimal racking. Pinot Noir grapes are fermented warm in open-top fermenters. The lots are pressed after a minimum of 14 days in the fermenter. Aging is in 60 gallon French oak barrels from Francois Freres in Calera’s two barrel cellars. The single vineyard Pinot Noirs receive 16 months of aging in barrels, 30% of which are new each vintage. The Central Coast wines are aged in 12-15% new barrels for 10 to 11 months. The wines are fined with egg whites to ensure clarity and are bottled after settling unfiltered.

The Calera property consists of 648 acres and 440 adjacent acres with 84 acres planted by 2006. The first vintage of estate Pinot Noir was 1978, all of 700 cases in half-bottles, and was the initial Calera wine made at the winery. Calera is the only winery in the Mt. Harlan AVA. The vineyards are in the Mt. Harlan AVA, but the winery is technically not, so Jensen cannot use “estate bottled” on the label.

According to John Haeger, writing in Pacific Pinot Noir, Jensen was an admirer of Dick Graff’s Chalone Vineyard Pinot Noirs and used Chalone budwood for the original 1975 plantings of Selleck, Reed and one-third of Jensen. Two-thirds of Jensen was planted from nursery bench grafts originating in California. Rumors persist that suitcase clones may have been brought in from Burgundy by Jensen, planted at Chalone, and the Calera plantings actually represent second generation budwood that originated in Burgundy (? Domaine de la Romanée-Conti). The Mills Vineyard, Chardonnay and second planting of Viognier are own rooted, the rest of the plantings are grafted onto nursery rootstock. Mills was planted with budwood from Selleck in 1984. The de Villiers Vineyard (not named on the map above) is a new 15.6-acre planting established in 1997.

The Calera Pinot Noirs are one of the closest to the Burgundian idiom in California. The wines are reticent upon release, with the best drinking window between 5 and 20 years after the vintage. Josh Jensen describes the Pinot Noirs from his four separate vineyards as follows. “Jensen is a complex wine and for me consistency of complexity is really the ultimate compliment to a Pinot Noir. Jensen is usually the most tannic and the leanest and least rounded. It has some type of olive character, a spiciness. The Reed in most years has a sort of chocolaty, raisiny character. In personality it has acquired a softness and precociousness. The Selleck is my personal favorite almost every vintage. It is also the fastest to evolve. It seems to have one more layer, one more bit of depth and complexity than the others, and since that’s what I appreciate the most, it appeals to me the most. The Selleck is the most feminine of our wines and the most subtle. It seems to taste of spice, nutmeg, truffles and earth together, and floral, so it is complete and complex. The Mills has terrific structure but it often seems leaner than the other three. Compared to any other Pinot Noir from any other producer it is rich, full flavored, dark and complex. Compared to our own vineyards, it seems less rounded and supple and fat by comparison.”

I recently tasted through several newly released 2007 Calera wines. I spend considerable time looking at many of the newer producers of Pinot Noir, but always follow an early inspiration I had. The first case of Pinot Noir I ever bought was the 1985 Calera Jensen Pinot Noir which was one of my early Pinot Noir epiphanies. Recently, one of my readers, aware of my fascination with this wine, sent me a few half bottles of the 1985 Calera Jensen Pinot Noir he had found in the back of his cellar. I opened two bottles, expecting some bottle variation which I found. Both bottles had soft, crumbly corks. The first bottle had a marked brownish caste but deep color. Aromas of shoe leather, mushrooms and raisin. The fruit had faded and the dry dusty tannins and acidity had come to the forefront. The flavor profile featured black cherry, sassafras, raisin, cola and black tea. The wine was very tart and seemed slightly oxidized. A second bottle was better with less brown discoloration. The nose offered aromas of smoke, roasted nuts and old wood with shy fruit. There was more flavor intensity and charm with tastes of tart black cherry and cola, but the dry plentiful tannins and acidity still won out over the faded fruit. Half-bottles are never a good choice for aging wine and this was confirmed. That said, it is still a wonderful experience to open old wines and challenge the senses.

Although my reviews of the 2007 Calera wines were not as effusive as Robert Parker’s (he gave the 2007 Calera Chardonnay Mt. Harlan a score of 96, the 2007 Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir a score of 97 and the 2007 Calera Selleck Vineyard a score of 98), I found these wines are definitely worth acquiring and cellaring. Parker said, “This may be the strongest group of wines Calera has produced in many years.” It is of great interest that Parker loves Calera Pinot Noirs, although they are definitely not the big-boned, highly extracted style that Parker seems to prefer from other producers in California.

All the Pinot Noirs are moderately light in color intensity. The wines need time to integrate the flamboyant fruit tannins. My biggest nit about some of these wines is the high alcohol which shows up on the finish. Except for the Reed Vineyard bottling, don’t even think about popping the corks on these wines for 3 to 4 years. The aromas are more showy than the flavors at this stage. Since I rate wines more on their current drinking charm rather than predicting the future, the obvious potential of these extraordinary wines will undoubtedly lead to more glorious reviews in the years to follow. Some of these wines will easily go 15 to 20 years. Don’t ignore the white wines for they are among the finest made in California today.

The back labels of Calera wines give you the kind of useful and detailed information you desire about the wine. Jensen avoids the often displayed superlatives, the flowery, hollow talk like “made in the best winemaking tradition,” or “sourced from the finest vineyards.”

Other current Calera offerings include: 2009 Central Coast Chardonnay ($16), 2009 Central Coast Vin Gris of Pinot Noir ($16), 2009 Central Coast Viognier ($16), 2009 Mt. Harlan Aligote ($20), 2008 Central Coast Pinot Noir ($24), and 2007 Mt. Harlan Cuvée Pinot Noir ($30). The Mt. Harlan Cuvée is a barrel selection from the various single-vineyard Pinot Noirs. I did not taste this wine but I blended equal amounts of the single vineyard wines reviewed above for the heck of it. The resulting wine was brooding and linear without nuance but it was pretty tasty. The Central Coast vineyard sources are multiple and are listed on the website.

Calera wines are sold through the winery’s online store at www.shop.calerawine.com. The de Villiers and Reed bottlings are sold out. The 2006 Reed is being offered in its place. Look for older vintages offered by Calera of vineyard-designated Pinot Noir that have been cellared perfectly at the winery. Jensen's newsletters are a treasure but he unfortunately publishes them very sporadically.

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St. Innocent Winery

St. Innocent Winery is a well-established and prestigious maker of Pinot Noir and cool climate white wines based in Salem, Oregon. Established in 1988, winemaker Mark Vlossek produces age worthy Pinot Noirs from estate (80 acres owned) and leased (40 acres) vineyards. The winery’s reputation has been built on vineyard designated Pinot Noir from purchased grapes. Yearly wine production is just under 10,000 cases. The name, St. Innocent, is in honor of Mark’s father, John Innocent Vlossak, who was a wine importer and introduced his son to the pleasures of fine wine at a young age. John was born on All Innocents Day.

Early on, Mark Vlossek was also the winemaker for Panther Creek Winery, where he acquired his Pinot Noir winemaking expertise. The first St. Innocent Pinot Noir was from the 1998 vintage which was a blend from several Willamette Valley vineyards. This wine was to later be replaced by the Villages Cuvée which debuted in 2002.

In 2006, St. Innocent Winery joined with Tim and Kari Ramey as partners in Zenith Vineyard (formerly O’Connor Vineyard from which Vlossak had sourced fruit) in the Eola Hills. Zenith Vineyard has a total of 13.5 acres of Pinot Noir exclusively for St. Innocent’s use with some additional fruit sold to wineries in Oregon and California. St. Innocent’s new winery and Zenith’s wedding and event facility located adjacent Zenith Vineyard compliment each other.

Currently, the lineup of single vineyard Pinot Noir includes wines from Freedom Hill Vineyard, Justice Vineyard, Momtazi Vineyard, Shea Vineyard, Temperance Hill Vineyard, White Rose Vineyard and Zenith Vineyard. St. Innocent was a long time purchaser of fruit from Seven Springs Vineyard but due to its sale, no longer has access to the fruit (the 2006 St. Innocent Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot Noir, the last produced, is available on the winery website for $100 a bottle).

The St. Innocent Pinot Noirs are classic expressions of Pinot Noir with exquisite balance and generous acidity. They are terroir-driven wines that show both the character of the site and the vintage. Vlossak’s goal is to create wines to “compliment and extend the pleasure of a meal.” The fruit is de-stemmed, crushed with 30%-40% whole berries, and fermented in 3 to 8-ton fermenters with no sulfur dioxide after a short cold soak. Aging is carried out for 15-17 months in French oak barrels with the amount of new wood matched to individual vineyards. The wines are rarely fined, racked or filtered.

Visit the informative website at www.stinnocentwine.com for more detailed description of the vineyard sources and to buy the current 2008 vintage wines. Unfortunately, the Shea, Justice and Zenith Pinot Noirs for 2008 are sold out, but are available on the secondary market. The Shea and Freedom Hill Pinot Noirs are sold as futures each year, and the 2009 vintage for these wines is now offered. The beautiful tasting room is open Tuesday-Sunday from May 1 to October 31 and weekends 11:00 to 4:00 year round. Open Houses are over Memorial Day and Thanksgiving Day weekends. Private tours and tastings are available by appointment.

I recently sampled several of the 2008 St. Innocent offerings. This vintage was the second one in the new winery facility and harvest was blessed with good weather. Yields were reduced from most sites, but the weather remained dry until Halloween, allowing leisurely picking at each vineyard site. The single vineyard wines need time to develop.

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Chasseur West County Wines

Winemaker Bill Hunter is one of a band of vintners focused on the Pinot Noir grown in “West County,” the far western Russian River Valley and true Sonoma Coast region encompassing western Sebastopol, Freestone, and the town of Occidental. Hunter is a graduate of University of California at Davis and gained his early winemaking experience at Rombauer, Bonny Doon and Chauffe-Eau Cellars. In 1994, he began making some of his own wine on the side, starting with two barrels of Dutton Chardonnay and one barrel of Carneros Pinot Noir. This led to the founding of his own label, Chasseur, the French word for hunter. In 2002, Hunter brought on Alex P. Bartholomaus, Managing Director of Billington Imports as an investment partner, allowing Hunter to devote himself full time to making wine at Chasseur. Hunter now quietly produces 2,700 cases annually of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at his winery in Sebastopol, located inside the Vacu-Dry apple processing plant on Gravenstein Highway.

There are six vineyard-designated Pinot Noirs for the 2008 vintage: Blank, Sexton, Holder, Umino, Rayhill and Joyce. Another usual source, Freestone Station Vineyard, was lost to spring frost and Sylvia’s was declassified. There was no smoke damage in the central West County vineyards used by Chasseur in 2008. Hunter notes that the 2008 wines are similar in quality to the elegant 2007s, but are bigger and fuller.

I preferred the 2007 lineup of Chasseur Pinot Noirs (see www.princeofpinot.com/article/816/) over the 2008 wines reviewed below. Still, the 2008 wines are well-crafted, showing bright fruit flavors, firm but restrained tannins, bright acidity and a consistency of quality. At this stage, the wines lack aromatic and textural interest, want for intrigue and nuance, and all taste very similar. I am sure that Hunter, who tastes the wines frequently, can make distinctions among the separate bottlings, but with a one-time taste through for me, it was difficult to arrive at significant differences. This may be partly attributable to the fact that all the vineyard sources are made up of very similar Dijon clone components. Chasseur Pinot Noirs are aged 14 months in French oak barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Chasseur’s two appellations Pinot Noirs (Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley) are available in some retail markets, but the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs are allocated and sold primarily through a mailing list. Declassified juice goes into a second label, Cazar. I had Chasseur Chardonnay on two occasions in the past, and found the wines exemplary. A Vin Gris of Pinot Noir is also available. Consult the website (www.chasseurwines.com) to join the mailing list or to buy wines. Tasting is available by appointment on Fridays.

Hunter is a bit of an outlier in that he does not submit his wines for review to critics. I bought these wines to sample them. I admire him for not promoting the scoring of wine.

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Sips of Pinot

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Pinot Briefs

Hong Kong Falling in Love with Burgundy As reported in www.wines-info.com, there is increasing demand for fine Burgundy in the Hong Kong marketplace, spelling doom for finding good value in wines from this region after the 2009 vintage. Burgundy’s appeal is its attractiveness when younger compared to Bordeaux. Most interest is centered on Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Leroy at present, but the demand for Burgundy should become more broad-based in time. Rhone and Italian wines may become increasingly favored in the Far East as well.

“Flights and Bites” Wine Weekend in Santa Maria Valley On December 4 and 5, Santa Maria Valley wine country will have a food and wine pairing passport weekend. On Saturday, December 4, participants travel to four wineries (Costa de Oro, Kenneth Volk Vineyards, Riverbench Winery and Core Wines) to sample wines paired with food. On Sunday, December 5, other Santa Maria Valley wineries will have special Open Houses. Special lodging rates are available at the historic Santa Maria Inn, Rodeway Inn and Radisson Hotel. Tickets ($25) are available at www.shop.smvwines.com.

VineStories.com After living and working in Los Angeles for 20 years, Bob Wittenberg and Jacqueline DiBernardo have moved to Portland, Oregon and started a small video production company that merges their interest in small production wineries (particularly Pinot Noir producers) with their background in writing and directing. The videos are mini-documentary conversations with winemakers, intended to be both educational and entertaining. Wineries featured so far in Oregon include Amalie Robert Estate, Cameron Winery, Coelho Winery, Daedalus Cellars, Sineann and Wy’East Vineyards. California and Washington wineries are also featured. Visit www.vinestories.com.

Robert Parker Still Shut Out of Vintners Hall of Fame The excellent wine blog, “The Wine Curmudgeon,” reports that Robert Parker has been nominated for inclusion in the Vintners Hall of Fame the past two years, but has not received enough affirmative votes. Joel Peterson of Ravenswood, Vernon Singleton of the University of California at Davis, and Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home Winery and Trichero Napa Valley were inducted this year. Richard Graff and August Sebastiani, both deceased, were elected as pioneers. Since many of the people who vote are wine writers, some believe Parker has been excluded because of jealousy. The curmudgeon remarks, “Parker was an American who took wine seriously. When he started writing about wine in the late 1970s, there weren’t many who did. That, by itself, is almost enough to earn him induction. His success made wine writing a legitimate profession in this country.” Check out The Wine Curmudeon at www.winecurmudgeon.com.

Nothing Like Old Burgundy There is no wine experience comparable to opening an old, well-cellared bottle of Burgundy and finding it drinks beautifully. I don’t have much old Burgundy in my cellar so when I open one it is a cause for anticipatory glee. I recently had a bottle of 1976 Domaine Grivelet Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses. The label showed its age but the fill was still generous. As the blackened and gnarled cork was pulled, and the wine was poured, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. After all, this wine came from the year I began the private practice of ophthalmology nearly 45 years ago. I thought: How many people on Planet Earth have drank this rare wine recently? The wine did not disappoint. The old bouquet was lively and fruity, the wine had backbone and marvelous layers of flavor, holding up beautifully throughout the meal. Great wine is about memories and this experience will be with me forever.

Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance Open House & Passport Event “Holiday in the Hills” will be held December 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2010. Alliance members Cargasacchi, Ken Brown, Dierberg, Dragonette Cellars, Fiddlehead Cellars, Flying Goat, Gypsy Canyon, Jalama Wines, Loring Wine Company, Moretti Wines, Pali Wine Company, Prodigal and Zotovish, among others, will be participating in a complimentary Alliance passport event as their holiday gift to wine lovers. When five wineries are visited and the passport stamped, you will be entered in a drawing with winners eligible to purchase a mixed case of Sta. Rita Hills wines for a penny. For information and to download the passport, visit www.winecountryholiday.com.

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The Bucket List

The following is a carefully prepared list of classic wines, many with a historic pedigree, that should be on every pinotphile’s bucket list of California Pinot Noirs to try before you, well, stop drinking. The Oregon Pinot Noir Bucket List will be in the next issue.

Anthill Farms Demuth Vineyard Anderson Valley
Alma Rosa La Encantada Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills
August West Rosella’s Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Benziger de Coelo Terra Neuma Sonoma Coast
Brogan Cellars Buena Tierra Vineyard Helio Doro Block Russian River Valley
Calera Wine Company Selleck Vineyard Mt. Harlan
Clos Pepe Vineyard Vigneron’s Select Sta. Rita Hills
Clos Saron Home Vineyard Sierra Foothills
Cobb Wines Rice-Spivak Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Dehlinger Estate Russian River Valley
Donum Estate West Slope Carneros
DuMOL finn Russian River Valley
Dutton-Goldfield Devil’s Gulch Ranch Marin County
Etude Heirloom Carneros
Fiddlehead Lollapalooza Sta. Rita Hills
Freestone Quarter Moon Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Hanzell Ambassador’s 1953 Vineyard Sonoma Valley
Hirsch Vineyard Estate Sonoma Coast
J. Rochioli West Block Russian River Valley
J. Swan Trenton Estate Russian River Valley
Kalin Cuvée DD Sonoma County
Kosta Browne 4-Barrel California
Lane Tanner Julia’s Vineyard Santa Maria Valley
Littorai Savoy or One-Acre Anderson Valley
Mt. Eden Estate Santa Cruz Mountains
Papapietro Perry Peters Vineyard Russian River Valley
Paul Lato Sine Cera Fiddlestix Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills
Peter Michael Le Moulin Rouge Pisoni Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Pisoni Pisoni Estate Santa Lucia Highlands
Rivers-Marie Summa Old Vines Sonoma Coast
Rhys Vineyards Alpine Road Vineyard Swan Terrace Santa Cruz Mountains
Saintsbury Brown Ranch Vineyard Carneros
Shandel’s Oppenlander Vineyard Comptche Mendocino County
Talisman Thorn Ridge Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Talley Vineyards Rosemary’s Vineyard Arroyo Grande
Thomas Fogerty Winery & Vineyards Rapley Trail M Block Santa Cruz Mountains
WesMar Hellenthal Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Varner Spring Ridge Vineyard Hidden Block Santa Cruz Mountains
Williams Selyem Litton Estate Russian River Valley
Windy Oaks Estate Limited Release Burgundian Clones Schultze Family Vnyd Santa Cruz Mountains