Pinot Noir Winemakers on
For more insight into this intriguing varietal, we've invited several winemakers to present their perspectives on Pinot Noir to help us appreciate the complexity of this wine.
Ken Volk gets nostalgic for one of his favorite Pinot Noir vineyards Fin du Fresne considers the northern and southern hemispheres of Pinot Noir Rick Moshin discusses gravity flow systems and Pinot Noir Christian Roguenant trains his Burgundian perspective on California Pinot VĂŠronique Drouhin compares her Burgundy and Oregon harvest 2009 experiences of this varietal
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From Burgundy to Oregon with Love by Véronique Drouhin-Boss Pinot Noir! I am lucky to have the opportunity to make wine in both Burgundy and Oregon, two very different but very special places for Pinot Noir. People often ask about comparing wines from both regions, but the discussion is very short if you don’t consider everything else, including the climate, the soil, the vineyards, and the growing season. And in the end, I am fascinated by the similarities as much as the differences. It’s impossible to generalize. My great-grandfather, Joseph Drouhin, started our family business in 1880, and it was his son, Maurice Drouhin, who began to buy beautiful vineyards in Burgundy, starting with Clos des Mouches. He was a strong voice for terroir who urged his fellow Burgundians to express their sites honestly and authentically: to celebrate what the monks had begun to define nearly 1000 years earlier. In the 1960s, my father Robert Drouhin also began to buy vineyards in Burgundy when possible and, in 1987, he also bought land in the Dundee Hills of Oregon. He had already visited the region many times and had tasted several very interesting wines, so he knew that the potential to make excellent wine existed in Oregon. As important, I think, he very much liked the spirit of the Oregon vintners embodied by people like David Lett and David Adelsheim, who would became dear friends. As a winemaker and carrier of the family tradition, I have spent most of my adult life traveling between these two beautiful places, learning something every day, every year. When we built the winery in Oregon, we replicated much of what one would find at our winery in Beaune, France. The main difference is that in Oregon we had the ability to build on a hillside, which allowed us to create an elegant, efficient gravity-flow system, something that Pinot Noir likes very much. All of this leads me back to the climate, the soil, the vineyard and the growing season. Though Burgundy and the Willamette Valley are on the same parallel, they do not share weather patterns often. In fact, Oregon is dry and warm for most of the summer, while Burgundy has frequent rain and sometimes bouts of hail. Although there are occasionally years like 2003, which was warm all over the world, that is not so common.
Véronique Drouhin-Boss Winemaker, Domain Drouhin
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Domain Drouhin Dundee Hills AVA, Oregon
What's LIVE-certified? LIVE is a non-profit organization providing education and independent 3rd-party certification for vineyards and wineries using international standards of sustainable viticulture and enology practices in wine-grape and wine production. www.liveinc.org
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Also, the soils are quite different. In Burgundy, you find chalky, sometimes sandy limestone soils, while in the Dundee Hills, volcanic, iron-rich soils are common. Within these broad descriptions, there are many layers to discover. My brother Philippe manages the estate vineyards in Burgundy and Oregon, and he is rightly obsessed with quality. In Burgundy, we naturally follow the high-density template and all estate vineyards are certified organic. We have also planted in a high-density manner in Oregon, which was something new for the region when we started working here. Our Oregon vineyards are LIVE-certified as is our Oregon winery. In a family business now in its 4th-generation, you often think about what you are leaving for your children and grandchildren. For my family, balance, elegance, and finesse are the goals we set for our wines, whether in Burgundy or Oregon. But the final measure is typicity: how true we are to the growing region. Just as someone might stick their nose in a glass of Chambolle-Musigny and say, “it could only come from Chambolle-Musigny,” we hope that people now or one day will stick their noses into a glass of our cuvée Laurène and say, “it could only come from Oregon.”
A Portrait of a Vineyard:
Sierra Madre Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
forces, the vineyard’s location, and attentive wine grape growing allow for the production of highly expressive wines.
by Ken Volk winemaker and owner, Kenneth Volk Vineyards
California: Santa Maria Valley AVA The Sierra Madre Vineyard is located in the Santa Maria Valley of Santa Barbara County. Originally established in 1971, this unique property consistently produces some of the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California. It was the source of my first professional wine bottling—a Pinot Noir in 1983—at my first winery, Wild Horse. The Sierra Madre Vineyard was also the source of my first release of Pinot Noir at Kenneth Volk Vineyards in 2004. I have great respect and sentimental love for this particular vineyard.
During the last two decades, the vineyard has changed ownership several times and has been completely redeveloped and replanted. Despite these changes, the distinct character of wines produced from this property has remained very consistent. The interaction of natural
Ken Volk Kenneth Volk Vineyards
Located on the Santa Maria Mesa, the vineyard lies fifteen miles east of the Pacific Ocean and is the first high spot west of the Guadalupe Dunes. One of Santa Barbara’s transverse valleys, the Santa Maria Valley runs east-west, allowing unobstructed northwesterly winds from the Pacific Ocean to buffet the vineyard. With a truly maritime climate, the Sierra Madre Vineyard rarely experiences more than a 20° swing between the daytime high and morning low temperatures. An average daily high of 75° in August and September make this an extremely cool-climate site. The onshore winds that buffet the vineyard vary from gentle onshore airflow to gale force winds.
that has been uplifted. The soils are extremely infertile, sandy and well drained. The combination of cool onshore winds and low vigor soils likely contributes to the uniquely attractive wines of the Sierra Madre Vineyard. The Sierra Madre Vineyard fruit consistently has the highest content of malic acid of all the vineyards in the valley. High malic acid content in the fruit tends to produce wines that have supple, creamy mouth-feels as well as a texture and richness when malolatic fermentation has converted the tart malic acid into lactic acid. The effect of latic acid on a wine’s mouth feel is typically thought of more frequently as a white wine characteristic. However, when malic acid levels are as high as in the Sierra Madre Vineyard (typically 40% of the total acid content of the grape juice), the bacterial conversion of malic acid to lactic acid exerts a major impact on the mouth feel of Pinot Noir produced from this vineyard. Another calling card of the Sierra Madre Vineyard is an inherent Asian spice nuance that can range from cinnamon, clove and sandalwood to five-spice. I find the wines produced from this vineyard to be elegant, earthy, and feminine, qualities that are especially intriguing in a glass of Pinot Noir.
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Around the World with Pinot Noir Edna Valley AVA: California by Fintan du Fresne, Winemaker, Chamisal Vineyards From a winemaking perspective, Pinot Noir is in the midst of an exciting transition between traditional Burgundian approaches and new world innovations that help winemakers produce high quality and unique wines. New w o r l d w i n e m a ke r s a re n o w b e g i n n i n g to understand how t o m a ke t h e b e s t Pinot Noir from their vineyards rather than simply trying to emulate Burgundy.
made to taste like Pinot from another area.
N e w Z e aland Pinot Noirs range from the high-tone red fruit of Central Otago to the dense, earthy complexity of Martinborough. These differences relate in part to the soils but t h e c l i m a t e exe r t s the greatest power on the fruit. Central Otago has a short but intense summer, which gives a ripe, sweet, re d - f r u i t c h a r a c t e r. M a r t i n b o ro u g h , o n Fintan du Fresne T h e s e w i n e m a ke r s the other hand, has a Winemaker, Chamisal Vineyards have developed new much more moderate techniques for fruit maritime climate with handling, vinification and aging that are a longer, cooler growing season, lending better suited to the character of the fruit itself to darker fruits and more complexity. they grow. The resulting wines continue to The other main Pinot regions of Marlborough improve in both quality and style, although and Waipara fall in between. Likewise in the style that has developed bears no California, distinctly different Pinots emerge resemblance to traditional Burgundy Pinot. from different regions up and down the Many Burgundians have adopted some of coast. Certain appellations, however, share the techniques pioneered by new world Pinot some similarities. I frequently liken Edna winemakers as we’ve raised the bar in terms Valley to the Santa Rita Hills or the Santa of the quality and expression of this incredible Lucia Highlands, I surmise, due to the coastal grape. influence in these three areas. Growing up in New Zealand and making wine both there and for the last six years in California has definitely exposed me to the two hemispheres of Pinot Noir. I’m in a unique position to observe how distinctly different styles of Pinot emerge from wine producing regions in the northern and southern hemispheres. This is indicative of the grape itself, which expresses terrior more strongly than almost any other varietal. Pinot Noir grown in one area can simply not be
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One exciting thing about Pinot right now is all the single vineyard bottlings that really showcase terrior. In a sense, the winemaker helps the vineyard emerge from the glass. Sure, we can make a blend from multiple vineyards that may be a great wine, but something about the purity of flavor in a single vineyard wine really appeals to those who love to create and enjoy this “holy grail” of wines.
Gravity Flow Winemaking and Pinot Noir Russian River AVA: California by Rick Moshin, Winemaker, Moshin Vineyards
While far from a new practice, gravity flow winemaking seems to have experienced a resurgence over the last decade or so in the United States. Before pumps and power, the most efficient way to move wine from vessel to vessel was to use the natural force of gravity and a nice slope. You could say that it’s an old world technique that is discovering a renaissance in the new world of winemaking. The question is “why?” A handful of winemakers are utilizing gravity flow to move their wines, believing that this gentle method will help preserve the delicate flavors and aromas that may otherwise be lost by the use of abrasive pumps. Not all grape varietals will respond in the same way to this technique. Not surprisingly, the most responsive varietal to this gentle handling is sensitive Pinot Noir. When produced with a reverence for what Pinot Noir can achieve, this wine can deliver some of the most subtle,
The four-tier gravity flow winemaking system mysterious, and enchanting characteristics in the aromas and flavors. To capture those ethereal qualities in the bottle is the lifelong goal of the Pinot Noir winemaker. I am a proponent of this gravity flow technique: I’m a former math instructor-turned fulltime winemaker. My four-tier gravity flow winemaking facility opened in 2005 and is the result of 20 years of winemaking and farming the “heartbreak” Pinot Noir grape. Designing and building a facility that would do this finicky grape justice was a dream that I’ve had for many years. While building our Russian River Valley facility in Sonoma County, we discovered that to construct a multi-tiered facility is significantly more costly than creating a single level winery. Such dedication to producing a certain type of varietal may seem over the top, but all one has to do is taste the resulting product and then it all comes clear.
1. Crush Pad Harvested grapes are brought up to the top tier at the rear of the winery. A forklift empties the bins directly into a destemmer set above the fermentation tanks into which the destemmed grapes fall. 2. Fermentation/ Press Pad Activities on this tier include cold soaking, punching down, fermentation, and pressing. All juice from this level can then flow to the next level, the cellar. 3. Cellar Juice flows into settling tanks or directly into barrels for storage in the cellar.
Intern David McDowell helps Pinot Noir into a tank at the top of the hill at Moshin Vineyards
4. Bottling Level Once this gentlyhandled wine has matured and is ready for bottling, it is pushed with nitrogen back into the settling tanks for blending or cold stabilization and a hose is run from the tank down to the bottling level to flow the wine into the bottling line system.
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gravity flo w 1. CRUSH PAD Grapes are first sorted and destemmed, after which they fall into the fermentation tanks below on the press pad.
2. FERMENTATION/ PRESS PAD Fermentation begins here. Free
run and press wine drain into settling tanks on the cellar level. 3. CELLAR Settled wine is drained into
Other US wine producers making use of gravity in their winemaking practice:
barrelsand then stacked for aging in the cellar.
4. BOTTLING LEVEL Finished wine is pushed with nitrogen back into the settling tanks. Finally, it flows to the bottling line for bottling and labeling.
California: Flowers Vineyard & Winery Sonoma, CA www.flowerswinery.com Fritz Winery Sonoma, CA www.fritzwinery.com Rudd Winery Oakville and Napa Valley, CA www.ruddwines.com Calera Wine Company Hollister, CA www.calerawine.com
Oregon: Ponzi Vineyards Willamette Valley, OR www.ponziwines.com Lemelson Vineyards Carlton, OR www.lemelsonvineyards.com WillaKenzi Estate Winery Willamette Valley, OR www.willakenzie.com
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Sustainability for the Love of the Grape
Another benefit of the gravity flow method is the savings in energy usage. Combined with the generation of electricity from the solar system installed in 2008, a gravity flow system contributes to the movement toward sustainability at Moshin Vineyards. In 2009, Moshin also installed an in-house nitrogen-producing generator, alleviating the need for multiple deliveries of heavy tanks that often leaked nitrogen. Other sustainable practices include the biodynamic farming of our newest vineyards: all grape waste is composted and we use the diatomaceous earth and cotton filter pads in the vineyard for weed control. For large public events at Moshin, compostable plates and utensils are utilized: the overall “greening� of the winery is a continual work in progress. Does this extra care for the grape handling and sustainability make a difference? Does your homegrown, nurtured tomato taste better than the one from the supermarket that was bred for shelf-life rather than enjoyment?
Burgundy, California, and a Glass of Pinot Noir California: Edna Valley AVA by Christian Roguenant, winemaker, Baileyana Vineyards When
a
new
winemaker make
a
world
claims
to
"Burgundian
wine," it is really an impossible statement. So many differences separate Burgundy and California that you cannot really compare the two regions. A Burgundian wine carries the name because it was produced from within the rich environment of Burgundy, France, where vines have developed for centuries to interact ideally with every possible environmental factor.
One Cannot Make a Burgundian Wine in California The climates of California and Burgundy differ from each other in many ways. For example, the vineyards in Burgundy experience three weeks of snow every winter whereas California’s grapes grow in a largely Mediterranean environment. In Burgundy, one would not see vegetation that thrives in many California wine regions, such as avocado trees. Another difference b e t w e e n C a l i f o rn i a a n d Burgundy includes the length of the growing season: in the summer, Burgundian vineyards enjoy a good 2.5 hours more sunlight a day than California’s vineyards.
So many other factors differentiate Burgundian wines from those produced i n t h e n e w w o r l d . Fo r example, vines in Burgundy are planted closer together than in places like Argentina and the US, due in part to limited availability of land. B urgu n d y ’ s p o o r soils and tight vine spacing result in lower yields than many other wine producing regions around the world, contributing to a concentration of flavors in the finished wine. Another area of difference is in that Californians battle mildew issues while Burgundian growers face the challenge of Botrytis. Also, in California the fruit generally has a higher pH and lower acidity than in Burgundy. So, rather than suggest that it’s possible to make a “Burgundian wine” in California, I draw inspiration f ro m t h i s g re a t re g i o n and lean toward making Burgundian-influenced California Pinot Noirs.
Christian Roguenant, winemaker, Baileyana Vineyards
California Has No Terroir, Yet I get very cautious when people start talking about terroir in California, as it’s really not possible to apply the concept of terroir here as
the French understand it. In France, terroir emerges from the complete integration and sustainability of working from vine to wine within one region and the definition and determination of the absolute best way to work with the varietal in this particular environment over many years. Terroir is so much more than the simple combination of a varietal, the earth, and the climate: it is a complete refining and polishing of how to work with the vine in every way. The best practices developed for French vineyards have been applied, in the case of some Grand Crus, for hundreds of years. The vines adapt and change significantly as they grow in an area for a long period of time. When replanting at a traditional vineyard in Burgundy, one may graft a cutting of vegetal material from
the current vineyard to the rootstock. This vegetal material has been perfectly “stabilized” for and is indigenous to and endemic of this one area. One may also use cuttings from other neighboring vineyards in the same region. The new world has no such “genetic library” of vines as has France. Only through such a library can one begin to really study terroir in the finished wine. Many viticultural elements continue to undergo change in California wine country, as well as in other new world wine regions. It is impossible at this time to say that a region has finalized everything there is to know about the terroir of a wine region. I know it’s very sexy to talk about terroir i n t h e US a n d other new world wine regions. However, one
Pinot Noir The Perfect Food Wine
Pinot Noir is a very versatile food wine because of its high acidity and rather low tannins. Some of the best food pairings with Pinot Noir include the following: Grilled seafood steaks with garlic or tomato-based sauces Roasted poultry with fruit-based sauces A cheese plate of Edam, Gouda, Gruyere, and Saint Andre
cannot actually determine the best way to grow anything if one consistently changes variables in the vineyard such as trellises and canopy management practices, as happens throughout these regions on a regular basis. For example, in the Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley of Central California, practices and vines have changed dramatically even in the last 15 years. One can only begin to identify the terroir of a vineyard after a particular piece of land has hosted particular vines planted in a particular way for many years, perhaps several hundred. We are taking “baby steps” toward developing a real sense of terroir in the new world. Trial and error eventually leads to success. Here’s an example of a lesson learned: for years we planted vines in an eastwest orientation to assist the creeping fog into the vineyard from the ocean, just a few miles to the west. Unfortunately, this orientation caused the grapes on the southern exposure to ripen well while the grapes on the northern side of the vine couldn’t e v e r q u i t e r i p e n p ro p e r l y. The sun’s effect trumped any perceived benefit for the fog in achieving the balanced ripening
Baileyana’s Estate Vineyard, looking North from the Edna Valley
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of the fruit, which is such a key factor with successful Pinot Noir. We learned from this experience, and have repositioned the vines. While I don’t believe that today California wines truly demonstrate terroir in the French understanding of the term, we know the potential is there. I know that new world wine regions hold the future promise of their own, genuine sense of terroir after they’ve evolved and approached perfection over many more vintages. There is so much more to discover. In fact, it was this sense of discovery that drew me away from my native Burgundy and toward the new world 20 years ago. Growing up in a traditional village in Burgundy, I soon realized there was not nearly as much to discover as a winemaker at home as there was in the new world. New world winemakers enjoy more freedom and increased opportunities for creativity.
Burgundian Pinot Noir in the early nineteenth century. Prior to 1820, most of the wine produced from this grape in Burgundy consisted of delicate rosés. Wine styles continued to evolve and change over time. By the early 1900s, Pinot Noir in Burgundy was being made into big, rich, and concentrated wines. In the 1960s and 1970s, this wine became considerably lighter and fruiter again. As in the fashion industry where a fresh collection is unveiled each year, new wine styles sometimes demonstrate a subtle evolution from the previous approach to crafting a particular wine while, at other times, the changes in a particular wine style differs dramatically from its previous style.
I draw much inspiration from Burgundy
when
making
Baileyana Pinot Noir. My wines generally have lower alcohol and brighter acidity than most
A Burgundian Style The wine style embraced by winemakers and consumers in any historical period reflects current society. A dramatic shift in styles occurred with
California Pinot Noirs. They are rich with red cherry, raspberry, black cherry, and soft plum flavors. Well balanced and elegant, these wines pair nicely with a wide range of foods.
French soul ~ Oregon soil Wednesday through Sunday 11am till 4pm Telephone (503) 864 -2700 www.domainedrouhin.com
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