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Don't
miss our older newsletters which contain tasting
tips and other valuable information!
Spring
2002 Newsletter
Stylistic
Trend in California PInot Noir
This past March 6th & 7th, I attended the World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) Technical Seminar. It was a tasting event for winemakers that preceded the public aspect of WOPN. The format of the meeting was a blind tasting of the new vintage (in this case 2001) of Pinot Noir that each of the attending winemakers produced, followed by an open discussion about the wines and a question and answer session with each winemaker. For the most part, the wines were good examples that showed the group something from which we could learn. It was either a wine from a new appellation, a new clone, an interesting winemaking method, etc. There may have been a tendency for winemakers to bring their most impressive wine from the cellar, and that often means the biggest, ripest, most strongly flavored wine. It also usually means that the wine is out of balance, too tannic. Just imagine, there I was, with six glasses of Pinot Noir in front of me labeled flight 1, wines A through F not knowing if my wine was in the line up. After 10 minutes of tasting the wines, someone in the room stood up to start the discussion on wine A. If nobody stood up, moderator Larry Brooks from Campion, would call on someone to start the discussion, and that could be me. This format was a great way to objectively evaluate wines and keep everyone in the room focused. At the same time, one is nervous that the wine being discussed may be one's own. If it is one's own wine, hopefully the discussion goes something like "brilliant winemaking, nectar of the gods", as opposed to "this is the worst wine we've tasted all day, what was the winemaker thinking?" For the most part the 2001 Pinot Noirs were very good. Almost all of the wines were from California, with two wines from Oregon. But what troubled me was the hugeness of some of the wines. They were very dark in color, quite high in alcohol - approaching 16, low in acidity, very high in tannins, and the anticipated retail bottle price was often $50 per bottle. Is this what the consumer is looking for? I'd like to think not. We as winemakers and business people fall into the trap of making wines for critics and wine competitions because we know that positive results have a profoundly similar effect on sales. It is often the wines that have the most oak, the most alcohol, and the most tannins that stand out (positively) in a blind tasting of 50 to 80 wines tasted by one person in a day. But what consumer tastes or drinks wine that way? Not a one. We also know that to charge lots of money for wine it probably has to be very impressive on some level. The easiest way to make an impressive wine is to use lots of new French oak. The resulting wine is strongly flavored and showy, but it is not strongly flavored from the grape. Furthermore, the trend toward ultra - ripe grapes is an attempt to increase the varietal flavor, but it often produces a wine that is out of balance. I feel the goal of winemaking is to grow grapes that are intensely flavored, probably through high - density planted vineyards and low yields, and a winemaking style that preserves the fruit flavors developed in the vineyard. There are ways to do this in the winery with good equipment, a cool, humidified barrel cellar, good sanitation, well-trained people, a moderate amount of new French oak barrels, experimentation and experience. When we tasted my wine, the comments were good. I particularly appreciated Merry Edward's comment, "this is a wine with great Pinot Noir berry flavors, and though the acidity seems high now, the wine will probably resolve itself and come into balance." I brought one lot of Edna Ranch Pinot Noir, which was a bit high in acidity because I wanted to see if it stood out relative to the other wines. I came
away from that tasting thinking that these monster wines are today's trendy
fashion and that wines with good flavors and balance will prevail in the
long run. The goal at Stephen Ross is the latter. Good examples are the
newly released 2000 Edna Valley Pinot Noir, $28 per bottle and the 2000
Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir, $35 per bottle. These wines have forward
aromatics true to their variety and place of origin, balance, and lingering
richness
This looks a lot like Provence Old head-trained vines at Dante Dusi Vineyard look more European than Californian Old
Head-trained vines at Dante Dusi Vineyard look more European than California
When
my family and I took a trip to the vineyards of Provence and the Rhone
Valley of Southern France in 2000 it was striking the resemblance of their
vineyards to the Dante Dusi Vineyard in Paso Robles. Both areas have head
- trained vines, lighter colored soils and warm summers. Since 1995 I have
worked with Mike Dusi Jr., grandson of Dante Dusi, The Dusi family purchased the land for the vineyard in 1941. After the ground was prepared the vines were planted in 1945 and 1946. Today the vineyard is dry farmed, more or less. In years when we have at least 14 inches of winter rainfall, there is no irrigation. However, in years of low rainfall, like this year, water is applied during the late winter to supplement Mother Nature's supply. There is no irrigation during the growing season. No sprays are applied to the vines. Normally, at a minimum, even an organic farmer might apply sulfur to control mildew, but none is applied at Dante Dusi Vineyard. When Mike Sr. told me that I thought maybe this is part of the explanation of why we have old Zinfandel vines - they are so naturally well suited to our California climate. The 2000 Dante Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel has a spicy, raspberry and savory herb aroma, with robust tannins and mouth-filling richness. It's also priced well for a wine coming from 55 year-old vines at $22.00 per bottle. Photo:
Stephen Dooley kneels by gnarled, old vine in the Dante Dusi Vineyard.
Stephen Ross Open House
Join winemaker Stephen Ross
Dooley at his wine cellar located at Courtside Cellars, 4910 Edna Road,
San Luis Obispo, CA. The winery is not normally open to the public, so
this is a great opportunity to visit and taste the new releases. We'll
be pouring the 2000 vintage of vineyard-designated Chardonnay, Pinot Noir,
Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah, as well as selected older vintages. Wines
will be available for purchase that day, and there will be no sales tax
(7.25) charged. Italian style pizzas made by the winemaker himself will
be served as well. The Open House is part of the San Luis Obispo Vintners
and Grower Association's Roll Out The Barrels event taking place May 3
through May 5, 2002. For more information about Roll Out The Barrels contact
the Vintners Association at (805) 541-5868.
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utilizing
his trucking company hauling grapes and case goods. He was my introduction
to his father Mike Dusi Sr. who is the caretaker of the vineyard. In 1999
I was able to get four tons of Dante Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel, and immediately
realized what all the excitement was about for this prized old vineyard.
The wine that year was very impressive, and subsequently I have produced
two more vintages that are even more impressive.