Hi All,
I am on a spree of delving deep into cool climate leaner bodied Pinot Noir.
Huge fan of:
Santa Barbara’s Sta. Rita AVA - strawberry/cedar character is so great. Talking Whitcraft/Sanford/Melville/Ojai
Sonoma coast - the gamy light cherry meets cranberry. Cobb/Kutch/Littorai
Willamette Valley - forest floor and pomegranate. Patricia Green/Shea/Owen Roe/Trisaetum
I am a fan of Anderson Valley a bit as well. They seem to be a little bigger than the above areas’ wines but lesser than RRV for example.
What I’m trying to ask is… are there any examples of lighter bodied Pinot you’re enjoying from the AVAs that are known for the beefier Pinot?
Santa Lucia Highlands/RRV/Carneros even.
I generally do not like Pinot from the above 3 areas … is it time to just write them off forever or are there non raisiny-cocoa examples of Pinot from them you might recommend?
I think a bigger point I may be trying to learn about and bring up is … an AVA like any of my top 3 are thought of as lighter bodied areas but it doesn’t mean they can’t let the fruit hang on the vine longer and get a big sugar bomb. Extreme example of this I can think of is the 17% ABV Pinot Noirs I’ve had from WALT. Basically tastes like port. I hate that stuff personally. But what I’m saying is what would the leaner style Pinot from the big bodied wine areas taste like? Probably awesome?!
I know you probably know this, but there are many smaller regions inside the Willamette Valley AVA (Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton, Dundee Hills, Eola Amity Hills, Chehalem Mountains, etc.). It might be interesting to buckle down a bit with what OR wines you like best and see where they’re from. Most of those wineries make wines from all over the WV. From that, you could then explore areas that aren’t represented inside your preferred range.
Goodfellow makes several single vineyard Pinots that you could buy and taste side-by-side: Whistling Ridge (Ribbon Ridge), Durant Vineyard (Dundee Hills), Fir Crest (Yamhill-Carlton). Belle Pente makes AVA-specific blends: Estate Reserve (Yamhill-Carlton), Murto and Belle Pente Vineyard (Dundee Hills). Patricia Green Cellars also makes a myriad of Pinots from darn near all WV AVAs. It could be a fun exploratory way to taste the OR Willamette Valley, and in your style.
San Luis Obispo County, north of Santa Barbara, has a lot of hidden and not-so-hidden gems. Look for vineyards in Edna Valley, Arroyo Grande and many excellent ones just along the coast in SLO County AVA (Steiner Creek, Derbyshire, Stolo, Spanish Springs, Bassi).
Notable producers:
Talley (Rincon, Rosemary, Stone Corral vineyards) - very restrained and elegant
This doesn’t directly answer your question, but have you explored Santa Cruz Mountains AVA? Definitely more under the radar compared to other CA regions, but there are some outstanding cool-climate pinots to be found.
RRV covers a rather vast area, weather wise. Are you saying that Dehlinger and Kistler Vine Hill do not show “right” to your palate? One can have a temp spread of 5-10F on any given day, from Laguna Ridge to Healdsburg, as one example, with any more. There are plenty of micro pockets throughout RRV, so painting the area with such a wide brush is interesting. As with any other AVA, look for particular producers and vineyards, not point scores.
“Cool climate” is often more marketing than fact. Soil and all sorts of details can make huge difference. Some straight-out hot areas like Chalone can make beautiful light bodied Pinot, for example.
Even within a single producer’s lineup from a single AVA, individual site and clonal makeup can make a huge difference. In SLH, Rosella’s tend to always be pretty, while Pisoni is out on the beefy side. SLH is actually fairly cool, with extended hangtime used to help resolve the acids.
The Santa Cruz Mountains offers plenty of quality light bodied Pinots. Windy Oaks and McHenry are good examples. Just about anyone sourcing from Lester Vyd. Try a Kutch to compare to his Sonoma Coast.
RRV can be very pretty when not picked so damn late. Producer and site…
I am late to the game on this thread, but I thought I would add my $0.02 as I am new to this forum as well.
I also really like Sonoma Coast and Willamette Valley a LOT. I also, in general, do not care for RRV and Carneros.
But, i do really like SLH Pinots - they are probably my favorite! So, I would encourage you to stick with those and explore. I was a member at Testarossa for a a few years, and developed a taste for SLH there.
Second the Belle Pente recommendation up above! Great, elegant wines even from the more powerful AVA’s and vintages.
For Russian River Valley, I really liked Fred Scherrer’s RRV PN, and the Williams Seylem Eastside Road Neighbors PN (I’m sure their other offerings are excellent, too, this is just the only one I’ve had). They are definitely beefier than some other regions, but I think they show what can be really delicious about RRV PN.
The other thing to consider is the serving temperature. I’ve tasted many “flabby” Pinots at 68 degrees that become remarkably lighter and more structured at 63 degrees. So, play around with the serving temp. Also play around with how much air the wine needs.
Conner, you probably want to check out this thread from last year about cool climate pinot noirs.
The thread has suggestions in other warmer AVAs. As you know there are cooler spots in warmer AVAs and each year is a different story. I would recommend looking at the bigger year trends and then on a cooler year, hit a warmer AVA or hit a cooler part of the AVA =)
Keep in mind, you may just be looking for specific clone combos. So it’s important to know where your palate trends are… and then find the bottling that hit that preference.
For my palate, it’s more about the blends of the clones and vine age than a specific terroir. That said, specific clones are more suited to one terroir than another.