We just opened the 2018s, except the Richard’s, to refresh notes for BD.
The wines are consistent with both my feelings on the AVA differences and support what Rick is saying. And while 2012, 2014, 2015, and to some extent 2016 are warmer, my 2018s are 12.1 and 12.3 respectively for Whistling Ridge and Ribbon Ridge and 12.6% and 13.0% for Durant and Dundee Hills.
I think Rick is referring to fruit sweetness, not residual sugar. There are 2-3 influences from the differences in the terroirs that I think help to understand how this could be so.
I’m also perfectly happy to do a blind tasting, to see if this holds up, between the vineyards(and AVAs), including Temperance Hill once the 2019s are bottled.
Genrally speaking, the predominantly volcanic soils in the Dundee Hills are deeper(4-6 feet deep) than in the sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge(20-36 inches deep). The volcanic soils also hold moisture considerably better than the sedimentary soils.
Our growing season is typically dry and warm from mid-June to mid-September, and dry farmed plants will deplete water considerably quicker in the sedimentary soils than the deeper volcanic soils.
Side note: Eola-Amity has some Jory soils(deeper volcanic) and quite a bit of Nekia soils(shallower volcanic soils about 3 feet deep), along with patches of other soils.
Less access to water leads to less leaf surface area. Larger leaf surface area is definitely connected to increased accumulation of sugars. It’s worth noting that both Jim Anderson and I worked with Durant fruit on the slope and down at the foot of the hill, and both of us opted to shift away from the slope to the foot of the hill. At the base of the hill the cool air aids in keeping sugars in check and the shade from the sun dropping behind the hill begins early. These are Dijon plantings, and the fruit has a lovely complex nature as long as it is picked early enough.
While I attempt to pick all of the fruit at a similar Brix level, the Durant almost always is .3-.7% higher abv. That adds richness, which in my opinion, helps to elevate the perception of fruit sweetness typical to the Dundee Hills wines that I make, and less typical of the Ribbon Ridge wines(Pinot Noir and Chardonnay).
Additionally, the contrasting Ribbon Ridge AVA runs out of moisture earlier. In addition to smaller leaf surfaces, the vines produce thicker skins to hoard moisture for when the top soil is depleted. At Whistling Ridge, wind is an additional factor inducing the vines to thicken the skins against dehydration, and the vines at Durant are sheltered from breeze by the hill behind the vines.
Thicker skins produce more phenolics and, IMO, give the wines a savory pithy quality when they are young that scrubs perceptions of fruit sweetness from the palate(in the way that a Negroni often seems less sweet than a cosmopolitan yet often contains as much or more sugar).
Tasting the wines tonight, both of the Dundee Hills wines seem more texturally rich, primarily through filling the mouth. The Ribbon Ridge has plenty of body, but very slight astringencies in the upper palate and cheeks pull it into the center of my palate and definitely occupy the early finish and length of the wine. The echo in the Dundee wines is a smooth reflection of the same lovely lemon blossom and nectarine of the mid-palate, where the echo in the Ribbon Ridge cuts the mid palate fruit short and shifts to a stonier/mineral/citrus peel finish. The Whistling Ridge is a more pronounced impression of this.
While the “sweetness”, IMO, is higher in the Dundee Hills wines, the perception of fruit sweetness in them is enhanced a lack of bitter structural components. And the Ribnon Ridge wines are defined by a higher degree of bitter(good) components in the sedimentary wines. I would opine that the same is true for the Pinot Noirs, although all of them have bitter components due to the use of stems. We utilize very close to 100% whole cluster with all of the Dundee Hills Pinot Noirs, and the wines are still rarely as structural as Whistling Ridge, while remaining more fruit driven(relatively speaking).
It’s worth noting that Jim Anderson ferments some of his Durant Chardonnay in concrete before moving it to barrel, and that medium for ferment may help to bring out some of the savory notes PGC is getting in their excellent Chardonnay. Maybe Jim can weigh in on this though.