When Peter Figge started his own vineyard, he left Carneros and migrated south of Monterey to the cooler Santa Lucia Highlands region to give heat-sensitive pinot noir an even more idyllic home.
Pinot Noir digs inBy Lyn FarmerAfter decades of trial and error, pinot noir, a variety that for 1,000 years has been the king of grapes in Burgundy is finally making itself at home in the New World. It is the red of choice in New Zealand and a clear favorite in Oregon. Yet in many regions where other reds have succeeded wildly, it has taken pinot noir far longer to dig in. Though its search for acceptance has not ended, the past decade has seen pinot noir establish itself as the centerpiece grape in niche California regions such as Russian River Valley and the heart of Sonoma Coast. Likewise, it has brought new respect to a handful of smaller valleys in Monterey once better known for producing indifferent Cabernet Sauvignon. It is even making inroads in Chile's cooler pockets. Still, despite the expansion of pinot noir's comfort zones, the ongoing debate about the appropriate style in which it is made continues.
"It's a chameleon," observes Pinot specialist Tony Soter, founder of Napa Valley's Etude and now the owner of Oregon's Soter Vineyards. Peter Figge, who makes an eponymous Pinot Noir near Monterey, concurs. "We know what Chardonnay tastes like, and what Cabernet is and Riesling. We haven't decided yet what Pinot Noir is [supposed to taste like]."
The fact that it has so many more faces in the Americas than it does in Burgundy is not surprising when one considers the plethora of terroirs in which it has been expected to grow. It was initially a deep disappointment in Napa where zealous vintners thought any grape could produce great wine anywhere in the county, and it has even struggled more than expected in Carneros, the relatively cool east/west corridor that spans the southern ends of Napa and Sonoma counties. But as growers zero in on its terroir preferences and cater to the proclivities of this thin-skinned, temperamental grape, there may ultimately be no greater expression of elegance in red wine on this side of the Atlantic.
"I have been in love with Pinot Noir as long as I've been drinking wine," gushes winemaker Dan Kosta, a partner in the Kosta Browne Winery in the Russian River Valley. "The reason Pinot has gotten so good in the last ten years is why it's not always available many of the best examples are made at small wineries by folks with a lot of passion, and it's in limited supply."
Brice Jones is one of those producers. He mastered Chardonnay at superstar Sonoma-Cutrer in the 1980s and '90s, and five years ago turned his attention to Pinot Noir as owner of Emeritus, a small winery in the Russian River Valley. He says simply, "Pinot is different from other grapes because it is so fragile. It can break your heart." Jones is not being melodramatic. Because it is indisputably delicate, it poses concrete challenges in the vineyard and the cellar. More subjectively, it is a positively tantalizing variety a siren that often leads those tending it down the proverbial vineyard path. "It is a grape that seduces you with its promise," Kosta confides. Figge, who first encountered pinot noir as a vineyard manager for Franciscan in 1994, notes, "It's a challenge to grow, but the satisfaction that comes from meeting the challenge is a terrific feeling. Growing pinot is about passion, and it's addictive."
Chile's Aurelio Montes talks dreamily of the varietal that he is growing to critical acclaim in the Leyda region. "Pinot noir is like a woman. If you treat her well, with care and love, and you know her, she will be lovely, otherwise, you better take care of yourself!"
Renae Perry who, with husband Bruce, is half of the team that owns Russian River's exquisite Papapietro Perry Winery, agrees with Montes's metaphor. "We treat pinot like the queen she is. It's the one varietal you can't mess with."
That sense of passion and mystery, of demand and reward, was only heightened by the release of much-discussed Sideways, an independent film hit that took the wine industry off guard in 2004. In the recently published Pacific Pinot Noir (University of California Press, 2008), author John Winthrop Haeger notes that "Pinot noir emerges as the main metaphor for the film's only legitimate romance." Like a lover with a crush, one character admires the grape for being "thin-skinned and temperamental" with "achingly beautiful qualities" that come to the fore only when "someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential."
With a resonance that defies easy explanation, the quirky film captured the hearts of wine-drinking Americans in what came to be called the "Sideways effect." Pinot Noir sales soared as those of Merlot plummeted. "Almost overnight," Haeger writes, "millions of Americans who had previously lived insular wine-drinking lives in bubbles of Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay began asking for [Pinot Noir] by the glass in bars and restaurants." Stores ran out of stock and wineries from Santa Barbara, California, to tiny McMinnville, Oregon, many of which had been laboring in near obscurity, suddenly found themselves swamped with orders they could not fill.
"More and more people not just micro-producers like me have found Pinot to be a versatile wine, and it's very food friendly," Figge observes. "People are starting to wake up to the fact that Pinot offers [them] a great deal [of flexibility]." What some insiders wrote off as an infatuation has blossomed into a long-term love affair. "Pinot sales are hot," Jones confirms. "The demand is strong and growing steadily. People are [first] discovering it and [then] discovering how versatile it is and, I think, appreciating how much personality there is in the wine."
Demand has soared, but supply can't presently keep pace. Ramping up case quantities means planting more vineyards and increasing yields, neither of which is easily accomplished with pinot. More daunting is the idea of increasing quantity and keeping quality high. As Figge points out, "Pinot produces much less fruit than cabernet, even cabernet produced at a boutique level. You'll get twice as much good cab as you could get good pinot from an acre of vineyard." That's one reason pinot is in short supply, and it also explains why it's so hard to find good, inexpensive Pinot Noir. "We may never be able to meet the demand for quality Pinot Noir," says Kosta, whose wines are on strict allocation to restaurants and whose retail mailing list has a waiting list of hopefuls. "You'll never see Pinot Noir have the commercial success of most other popular wines," Jones says. "At least not in terms of volume we just can't produce enough to meet a huge commercial market."
In the 1960s, many California winegrowers gave up on pinot noir. Most who had planted it had done so almost thoughtlessly. "They were growing it where they grew other varieties, like cabernet sauvignon and merlot," Figge notes. Of course, the cool-climate Burgundian could not adapt to the warm-climate areas those grapes prefer. "And if you try to push pinot to yield as much fruit per vine as cab, the wine will have no character at all," he adds. "Many winemakers just wrote it off because it didn't work well where they were working."
A few, however, approached things differently, and became beacons of hope to today's generation of Pinot-obsessed winemakers. Josh Jensen is one of the pioneers who met with early success. His quest to grow pinot on par with that of Burgundy commenced in 1975 when he founded Calera Wine Company in the chalky limestone soil of an undeveloped region in San Benito County, 90 miles south of San Francisco. Jensen's instincts had led him to the right place; he went on to craft Pinots that were then among the most elite produced in California. Ten years before Sideways was released, author Marq de Villiers documented Jensen's journey, and his own fascination with the varietal, in a 1994 paean to Pinot Noir titled The Heartbreak Grape. The author's poetic account of his own seduction by Pinot Noir was inspired by one particular wine, the 1987 Calera Jensen Vineyard bottling. His exploration of what made this Pinot so alluring also illustrated the challenges faced by anyone who grows this delicate grape.
Andrew Vingiello, a winemaker crafting single vineyard Pinots from both north and south of San Francisco Bay for his A.P.Vin label, offers, "I don't think it's that much harder to make than other varietals; the difficulty is growing it. You have to really know what you're doing." Because of its thin skin, pinot noir is more susceptible to frost and hail damage than other grapes and has limited color potential compared to pigment-rich grapes like syrah. "Pinot scars easily," Vingiello adds. "If you're rough in the vineyard or in the winemaking, you may find a way to compensate with another grape, but not with pinot. It's like an elephant; it doesn't forget."
"I never met a pinot plant that didn't demand good farming and some luck with the weather wherever it's grown," concurs Soter, who has been working with the variety for three decades. "My first Pinots at Etude came from [warmer] up-valley Napa sources, then we [looked] to cooler Carneros and [then] to even cooler parts within Carneros, namely the far west fringe toward the coast. Cooler is better when working with a grape that just can't handle heat waves."
Figge has also sought cooler temperatures. When he started his own vineyard, he moved from Carneros to the Santa Lucia Highlands south of Monterey. "Pinot producers have migrated to the coast to get cooler conditions from Santa Barbara," he notes, "all the way up to Anderson Valley, well north of Sonoma."
Following the sale of Etude in 2001 to Beringer Wine Estates (now Foster's Wine Estates), Soter migrated even farther north to the Willamette Valley where, he says, he rarely encounters the "candied confection notes that are all too common" in California's warmer regions. Instead, he has "found much to like in Oregon that was hard to find in California, including the inherent potential for elegance in a cooler region. I find a more complex expression of fruit, always with a little something extra."
That something extra the delicacy and nuance for which Pinot Noir is coveted may escape winemakers who spend a lot of time with other varieties and then try to tackle pinot, Jones believes. "In some ways, Oregon has the better climate for pinot, but not as good soil as parts of Sonoma. We have great soil and a good climate to me, Russian River is the Cτte d'Or of the U.S., our best area for pinot noir." Jones makes a Pinot from Sonoma Coast as well, and when he speaks about regions, he calls the two stylistically different, but equal in quality. "Here is where everything comes together and the grape expresses itself best. It can't be formulaic; it's artistry."
Style is a recurring theme in any discussion with winemakers crafting Pinot Noir. For Aurelio Montes, "The allure is in the elegance of the wine, the distinctiveness of its aromas and the delicacy of its texture. Burgundy obviously has an influence, but in general, here in Chile, the style is very New World." Montes, who also owns a winery in Argentina, adds that just as in North America, the challenge in South America is discovering where pinot grows best. "Winemakers that are located in cooler areas, such as Leyda and a new area northwest of Santiago called Zapallar, have been successful with pinot noir, and those who are genuinely committed to quality are the ones that are shining nowadays."
Which brings us back to terroir. "California is not Burgundy," Kosta asserts. "Some [New World] producers are trying to make Burgundy, but that cannot work. The diversity just here in Russian River Valley is too great to produce just one kind of wine." Like many Russian River winemakers, Ben Papapietro also makes wine from neighboring Sonoma Coast, where the soil is different, but the cool weather pattern is similar. He and his colleagues in the area like to say, "We make wine out of fog," which emphasizes the importance of cold Pacific air moving in through the Petaluma Gap. Santa Rita Hills, Santa Lucia Highlands and other areas south of Monterey enjoy the benefits of a similar gap in the mountains that permits cold air to flow over their vines.
Jean-Charles Boisset, whose family owns several properties in Burgundy and Le Clos Jordanne, a highly acclaimed winery in Ontario, as well as DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma County, says, "We are learning from each other, both Old World and New." Boisset has just launched JCB, a new label from Sonoma that he says is "a different kind of marriage" between Burgundy and California. "With DeLoach, the wines are very vineyard specific just like Burgundy with premier and grand cru. With JCB, I take the opposite approach. There's no mention of vineyards so I can focus on a sense of style, a flavor and texture profile that lets me highlight different aspects of pinot noir and of the terroirs in Russian River and the Sonoma Coast." To keep the emphasis on style, each wine is simply given a number instead of a name that could be interpreted geographically. "These are as pure an expression of pinot noir as anything we do in Burgundy. They are different and [yet] they are still pure." Boisset understands the differences firsthand because many of the qualities we've come to know in Old World Burgundy developed over time, not only with aging in oak barrels, but also aging in bottles at the domain.
The New World, however, is a Now World. "I love the elegance of Burgundy, the history, but I don't want to have to cellar my wines for ten years," Kosta says. "I like fruit-driven wines."
Montes, who added two Pinot Noirs to his distinguished portfolio a few vintages ago, says he strives for "elegance through a delicate expression of fruit character balanced with oak aging." Like Kosta, he isn't interested in waiting too long to pull the cork "My preference is for wines that are ready to drink now," he states.
"We are a now' culture," acknowledges Russian River Valley winemaker Merry Edwards. "The market pressure certainly is for wines that are ready today." Edwards, however, takes a very long view of Pinot Noir. Her winemaking career has spanned more than 35 years and she is considered one of California's leading Pinot experts. Among her peers, Edwards is especially well regarded for her pioneering work with clones, the result of hybridization to which the pinot noir grape is particularly prone.
No winemaker can understand pinot without understanding its penchant for change. There are literally dozens of identified clones, and each has a distinctive character while still clearly being pinot noir. Some differences are subtle and some are substantial. "I've always loved wines that age well, and I'm spending a lot of time on ageability these days," Edwards says. "My Pinots improve with age because of the clones I prefer you have to have the right kinds of tannins for this to happen, and that is partly a product of the right clones in the right place."
No matter that her ten Pinot Noirs are outstanding, Edwards continues to refine her ideas about where to plant particular clones. It's a question of personal style. "You have favorite clones that give you qualities you like, so you look for the places those clones grow best. I'm in Russian River Valley because I believe that's where the quality is, where my style flourishes. No place creates the structural profile I get here, and the texture is unsurpassed. Carneros can't produce this structure."
Though Edwards has consulted for Oregon's King Estate and Villa Mt. Eden in the Santa Cruz Mountains among others, she makes all her own wines strictly from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. Within those regions, she continues her search for unique vineyards, even scouting for select rows of vines within particular vineyards.
There wasn't a winemaker interviewed for this article who didn't acknowledge that with pinot noir, nature is clearly in charge. It has taken a few decades for Americans to understand that the winemaker's role in the New World Pinot equation is part savvy real estate agent and part patient mentor. Yet both the learning process and style debate continue, fueled by an unrequited passion for Pinot. "I love Pinot Noir for its diversity and its transparency," Kosta enthuses. In the best New World Pinots, that transparency aligns with finesse and elegance. It is most evident when winemakers use a gentle hand so the terroir takes precedence over technique.
Tasting BAR
Displaying more variations from place to place than any other grape, pinot noir enables those who appreciate it to become virtual wine tourists. Oregon winemaker Tony Soter says, "It simply telegraphs more site and regionally specific expressions than most grapes, or they are [at least] more obvious."
This "chameleon quality" is responsible for some of the confusion consumers (and winemakers) may face over just what is the varietally correct style for Pinot. In fact, there are several valid styles. Of the more than 50 Pinot Noir bottlings tasted in May and June for this article, those that follow offer particularly captivating expressions of their terroir. All wines were tasted open and are listed alphabetically by producer.
A.P.Vin, 2006 Pinot Noir, Rancho Ontiveros, Santa Maria Valley $48: Bright, medium ruby hue. Lovely bouquet of clean herbal notes, Provenηal herbs, black fruit and forest floor. Initial palate impression of sweet fruit, especially black cherry, teeters on the edge of jamminess without going too far. Score: 91
A.P.Vin, 2007 Pinot Noir, Clos Pepe Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills $48: Brilliant, luminescent ruby hue with purple overtones. Nose of cedar and black cherry. Compact palate presence with impeccably balanced flavors of warm cedar, black cherry and cola that slowly unfold on a long finish. Score: 92
A.P.Vin, 2007 Pinot Noir, Rosella's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands $48: Brilliant ruby hue. Very clean mineral and cherry aromas with underpinnings of intriguing herbal and smoke notes evocative of the garrigue quality found in a Rhτne wine. Silky and soft with lively acidity and ripe tannins providing structure and lush texture. Black cherry and cola blossom on the palate, followed by soft blackberry and blueberry notes. Hints of Christmas spice and graphite minerality accent the long, balanced finish. Complex and satisfying.
Score: 94
Emeritus, 2007 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley $N/A: Restaurant Only: Beautiful, medium ruby hue. Expressive bouquet of red and black cherry with undertones of raspberry and pleasing herbal and smoky notes. Great finesse in the mouth with crisp acidity balancing red and black fruit flavors, all wrapped in an appealing silky texture with a fine core of minerality along with hints of cola and dark chocolate. Score: 93
Emeritus, 2006 Pinot Noir, William Wesley, Sonoma Coast $50: Medium ruby hue. Very expressive, forward bouquet of black cherry and berry fruit with coffee and smoky herb nuances. Deeper and more intense than its Russian River Valley sibling, this Pinot shows great elegance and stunning balance. Score: 95
Figge Cellars, 2007 Pinot Noir, Pelio Vineyard, Monterey $49: Medium ruby hue with marked intensity. Tight nose evolves with air to offer aromas and like flavors of Bing cherry, cola, coffee and smoky bacon. Very complex and well structured. Score: 93
Figge Cellars, 2007 Pinot Noir, Paraiso Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands $49: Brilliant ruby hue with a lovely rose rim. Perfumed floral bouquet or rose petal with hints of anise and black fruit. Black fruit predominates on the palate with a bit of youthful heat evolving to dried citrus peel and red fruit notes on the long finish. Score: 91
Figge Cellars, 2006 Pinot Noir, Pelio Vineyard, Monterey $48: Brilliant crimson hue. Warm nose of red cherry and spice. Crisp red apple and cherry flavors bolstered by ripe tannins and excellent balance. Long, satisfying finish. Score: 92
JCB, 2006 Pinot Noir, No. 7, Sonoma Coast $50: Pale ruby hue. Very aromatic with floral and black cherry notes wafting from the glass. The seductive bouquet leads to black cherry and hints of gamy and forest floor flavors. Terrific structure with well-balanced fruit, bright acidity and a long, crisply defined finish. Score: 95
JCB, 2006 Pinot Noir, No. 11, Sonoma Coast $50: Medium ruby hue; very bright in the glass. Spicy bouquet amplifies a sweet impression of ripe black fruit that is saved from jamminess by crisp acidity. Smoky notes accent the long finish. Score: 91
JCB, 2006 Pinot Noir, No. 22, Mendocino Ridge $75: Medium ruby hue. Reticent bouquet opens to floral and spice aromas with a pleasant, clean edge of dried citrus. Crisp and lean on entry, slowly unfolding to offer a broad palette of flavors including red and black cherry, red flowers and citrus notes accented by pleasing hints of herbs and grilled fruit. Score: 93
Kosta Browne, 2007 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley $52: Brilliant, deep ruby hue. Inviting aromas of red cherry, forest floor and minerals. Like flavors appear in the rounded, forward palate along with prominent red fruit notes. A little hot on the long finish, but an exemplar of the robust style of Russian River Pinot. Score: 91
Kosta Browne, 2007 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast $52: Medium-deep ruby hue. Full, expressive bouquet of black cherry, brown sugar and herbs. Made in a big, muscular style, yet still elegant and showing citrus notes behind the black fruit on the palate. Crisp acidity lends plenty of nerve. A well-balanced, appealing food wine. Score: 90
Merry Edwards, 2007 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley $42: Medium garnet-crimson hue. Lovely bouquet of black fruit compote, forest floor and smoke. Very expressive on the palate with cola and soft black and red fruit flavors accented by a bit of mocha in a lush, silky texture with a long finish. Score: 91
Merry Edwards, 2007 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast $36: Bright, deep ruby hue. Lovely, appealing high-toned mineral and red fruit aromas, especially an attractive note of red cherry. Bracing acidity offers firm structure and brightens lean red fruit and red currant flavors. Medium in weight with a very clean finish. Score: 90
Merry Edwards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Flax Vineyard, Russian River Valley $54: Bright, medium ruby hue. High-toned herbal and forest floor aromas give way to black fruit nuances and rich spice aromas tinged with graphite minerality. This Pinot reveals its considerable charms slowly. It is soft on the palate with ripe tannins and luscious fruit imbued with crisp acidity that provides ample structure on the long finish. Score: 93
Merry Edwards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Meredith Estate, Sonoma Coast $54: Medium ruby hue. Quite youthful, warm red fruit aromas. Firm, tart black fruit in the mouth with a beguiling hint of smoked cherry. Soft and warm on the palate with luscious, exceptionally well-balanced, generous fruit supported by crisp acidity. Score: 93
Merry Edwards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Coopersmith Vineyard, Russian River Valley $54: Bright, deep ruby hue. Deep, lovely black fruit aromas. Appealing floral nose with an underpinning of Bing cherry and spice. A beguiling, exceptionally balanced wine with firm acidity supporting lush black cherry accented with clean mineral notes. Score: 94
Merry Edwards, 2003 Pinot Noir, Meredith Estate, Russian River Valley (now classed as Sonoma Coast AVA) $54: Deep ruby hue. Evolved aromas of herbs and black fruit with hints of mushroom and forest floor. Focused herb notes balance rich tar and black fruit flavors and support a long, complex finish. Showing very well and certainly supports Edwards's assertion that well-made New World Pinot is ageworthy. Score: 92
Montes Alpha, 2007 Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley $19: Lovely, medium ruby hue. Bouquet brims with bright cherry and red fruit with a strawberry nuance. Notable structure framed by crisp acidity balanced by cherry sweetness and subtle oak. Big without sacrificing any finesse. An excellent food wine that is at once elegant and powerful. A real beauty and an amazing steal. Score: 94
Papapietro Perry, 2007 Pinot Noir, Leras Family Vineyard, Russian River Valley $49: Medium ruby hue. Bright aromas of red and black cherry with well-defined spice notes and just enough smokiness to lend notable dimension. Crisp acidity with dried orange peel accenting red fruit flavors and a pleasing floral note. A big, very good, complex wine with lovely depth of fruit and an exceptionally long finish. Still quite youthful, it will improve for another six months to a year and then last for many years thereafter. A stunning Pinot Noir. Score: 94
Papapietro Perry, 2007 Pinot Noir, 777 Clones, Russian River Valley $70: Made from Clone 777 grapes sourced from five vineyards. Medium ruby hue. Very aromatic with nice, smoky oak aspects underpinning notes of black cherry, forest floor and herbs. Crisp entry with well-balanced acidity and red berry and black cherry flavors accented by a hint of Asian spice. Complex and long on the palate. Needs a bit more time to gain the richness required to counter its youthful acidity. Score: 95
Papapietro Perry, 2007 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast $45: Medium ruby hue. An elegant nose of red fruit and complex spice notes on the nose and on the palate. Crisp acidity lends broad dimension to the red fruit flavors with some appealing black cherry in the background. Well structured with firm acidity. Exquisite, with finesse and power in obvious balance. Requires a bit more time in the bottle before reaching maximum enjoyment. Score: 92
Papapietro Perry, 2007 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley $45: Brilliant, medium ruby hue. Lovely aromas of red and black fruit with secondary scents of cola, spice and forest floor. Silky, expansive palate of firm red and black fruit with a foundation of crisp acidity. Exotic and dark with a long finish. Score: 93
Papapietro Perry, 2007 Pinot Noir, Elsbree Vineyard, Russian River Valley $49: Medium ruby hue. Complex bouquet brims with red and black cherry fruit along with an appealing spiciness balanced by vanillin oak and smoke. Luscious on the palate with crisp acidity providing a sound framework for the generous red and black cherry fruit. A very "red" wine with pleasing cherry and red currant notes. Quite firm and well-structured with hints of spice and peach underlying the red fruit on a long finish. Score: 93
Sonoma Coast Vineyards, 2005 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast $61: Medium-deep ruby hue. Deep herbal aromas mingle with black fruit scents.
A bit tart and tannic with black fruit and forest floor flavors. Still young and showing its alcohol; will probably age for several more years. Score: 90
Sonoma Coast Vineyards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Petersen Vineyard, Sonoma Coast $63: Medium ruby hue. Elegant, attractive bouquet filled with floral and cherry notes. Velvety texture with lovely black fruit and smoky, meaty highlights. Very classic in style and long on the finish. Score: 94
Soter Vineyards, 2007 Pinot Noir, North Valley, Willamette Valley $30: Medium ruby hue. Lovely aromas of cherry and herbs. Needs air to open, then offers aromas and flavors of sweet cherry with undertones of citrus and mineral. A lovely, well-balanced wine. Score: 90
Soter Vineyards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Mineral Springs, Yamhill-Carlton $65: Bright ruby hue. Deep, complex bouquet slowly reveals black cherry, coffee, exotic spice and a flinty mineral note. Soft, elegant flavors mirror the nose. Still a bit closed; needs another six months of development. Score: 92 LF
Senior Editor Lyn Farmer received the 2003 James Beard Journalism Award for magazine writing and was also nominated for the award in 2004 and 2007.
