I confess to having given up on red Burgundy because I simply can’t afford to spend $175 per bottle only to be borderline angered by 28% of them. I get that the ceiling is higher than any other ceiling (and I’ve had some of those), but man is the floor low and frequently hit and the per bottle cost relentlessly expensive and increasing (I remember getting good vintages of d’Angerville Taillepieds for $65 fifteen years ago – that was great! – sadly, those have been consumed). I don’t have C-suite/pro athlete money.
I also realize that California Pinot Noirs are only so much of a substitute for “the real thing.” That vanilla/cherry coke taste of a better 7-year-old Williams Selyem Riverblock, while quite delicious in its own way, is never going to be mistaken for Clos Vougeot (which, in the case of about half the Clos Vougeot I’ve had, is a good thing for the W-S!).
My question is to those with the patience/budget/experience to be serious Burgundy drinkers but who also drink California Pinots.
What California Pinot Noir gets you excited as either a SUBSTITUTE for Burgundy (i.e. “It’s Burgundian!”) or a COMPLEMENT (i.e. “It’s clearly not Burgundy, but I love it”)?
Since moving back to the US in 2014 after 8 years away and forswearing Burgundy around that time, I’ve amassed 40+ bottle holdings each of Aubert and Rhys and similarly replenished my depleted Rochioli supply (long-time list member there). I’ve opened very few of them yet. I’m particularly curious on thoughts on these producers, but I’d be curious to know what other domestic producers I should be looking at, especially in light of these three being far and away my cellar’s anchor Pinot Noir tenants (close to 90%).
My prejudices at the moment: Rochioli single-vineyard bottlings have a very, very high “floor.” I’m basically never disappointed and frequently damn pleased. Aubert has a pretty broad range of outcomes. I haven’t opened any of my fancy Rhys but the Bearwallows have been “yep, that’s worth almost exactly the $60 I paid for it.”
Finally, since my wife and I are “only” going to drink +/- 180 bottles per year and I love all sorts of white wines, Barolo, Brunello, Bordeaux, Rioja and Champagne, there’s no point in trying to persuade me that my life is incomplete without Jayer Cros Parentoux in it. That ship has sailed.