Seems like 2006 was one of the less heralded California Pinot vintages of the noughts (albeit the qualitative spread in California vintages is probably not that large). I’ve opened a few lately that i thought were drinking really nicely and outperformed the more heralded vintages (2005 and 2007) on either side. The Dehlinger Estate seems stronger to me than the 2002 and 2005 drunk recently and this Selyem tonight is very nice:
Warm and high toned nose of nose of rose petals and nutmeg
On the palate, rich and sweet red fruit without being heavy or dense. Acid backbone carries the flavor through the long finish. A touch of warmth on the end. Seems very true to the house style under Bob Cabral and a nice example. (91 pts.)
2006 was a vintage where I was working with RRV and AV Pinot. It was not a great year but it seemed to me those who had close relationships with the farmers, or controlled all their fruit sources did better. It was definitely a growers vintage from potential crop load. In RRV we dropped 30-40% of the fruit and in AV is was more like 50%. In RRV we generally had more tons to the acre year in and year out, in AV most hold tonnage lower due to higher mold pressure. The heaviest vineyard by the acre in RRV that year was heavily infected with botrytis, 25%+ rejected clusters at the sorting table vs. an average of <1% normally.
Early drinkers with very few that actually got better and more weighty with cellar time is how I reflect on the vintage.
2006 was certainly a challenging year, especially when compared to 2005 - a ‘claasic’ vintage where Mother Nature allowed winemakers to truly pick when they wanted to, rather than when they had to.
2006 was a much more condensed vintage, with a large crop and warmer weather throughout September and October.
Most wineries faced space constraints - varieties that normally ripened later were coming in earlier than expected due to the heat, causing folks to burn through ferments faster or just have fruit hang longer.
I dug the pinots I helped make that year at Fess Parker - they were less fruit forward and more acid driven. I figured they would hold up well over time - will have to check in on some I stashed away.
That said, producers who strived to make bigger, bolder pinots may not have been as successful since the ‘generous fruit’ of 05 was replaced with leaner fruit in 06. The KB wines I’ve had recently from 06 were not nearly as enjoyable as the 05s for one set of data points . . .
In the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of opening some Littorai '06 Pinots (Roman, Cerise, the Haven) and they’ve all been very good, aged extremely well. They weren’t opened side by side so I don’t have details about vineyard variation at hand. Are they indicative of the skill of the wine-maker or of the vintage? I can’t say - but they all could have easily aged further.
I’ll take the contrary side - for the most part, I’ve disliked 2006 California pinots (at least relative to the same wines from other vintages), increasingly so as they’ve aged. It’s my least favorite California Pinot vintage I can think of.
There are exceptions of course, and I also acknowledge it wasn’t purely a vintage thing - that was still in the period of “see how big we can get pinots” for some producers, and that stylistic trend is part of the reason I haven’t cared for 2006s, especially as they’ve aged.
That was somewhat my point as well. Those producers who tried to make wines in the same style as 05 were not sure successful, at least from my perspective.