Best California AVA for pinot noir?

WINE TALK
21

I’m not sure what you define as a track record.
Cronin, McHenry, David Bruce of the 1980s and 1990s, Clos De La Tech, Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyards, Varner, and the occasional success by hobbyists.

22

I voted Sonoma Coast.

Dos Rios was a close second.
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Sonoma Coast is my favorite by quite a bit.

Second tier – Russian River Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Green Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands
Third tier – Carneros, Santa Rita Hills, Central Coast, Anderson Valley

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23

Steve, I’ve had one or two SCM bottles that were pretty good, and a lot of crappy ones. David Bruce has made some decent, quaffable wines over the years, Cronin is a bit of a local cult (I’ve had my share), I personally haven’t had a Varner I would write home about. In all seriousness, I would have to say these are perfectly decent wine, but none of them has ever been able to compete at the world class level. To me, there is one world class winery in SCM: Ridge, and they don’t make Pinot. Mt Eden is a contender in scattered vintages, but hardly qualifies the whole region to be crowned as “Best AVA.” I’m just asking for a little reality in the discussion :wink:
Regards

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24

I voted for Chalone. Since I worked there from the tail end of the 1994 vintage through 1998, I had the opportunity to taste the extraordinary run they had from 1969 through 1986 (except the 1981, which was taken over by brett). Of the 4 times I’ve tried the 1977 Chalone PN, it has always been not only my favorite new world PN ever, but I’d put it up against the best DRCs, Dujacs and Rousseaus (my Burg favorites) ever produced. Very bold statement? Yes! The '69, '74, '78 and '80 Chalone PNs are also excellent.

By the way, if anyone has a '77 Chalone PN they’d like to share, I’ll fly to wherever you may be and buy you and your S.O. dinner just to taste it again.

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25

Hmm, I’m tempted to fill up the empty '77 bottle I have and take you up on that offer. Wouldn’t even have to fly anywhere :wink:

26

There’s a lot of crap up here, but a few that are absolutely stellar that make up for it.

27

We had the 77, 78, and 79 out of mag camping at Michaud last month… damn… By far, the greatest domestic PN’s I’ve ever had. (82 Chalone Chenin one of the best domestic whites I’ve had too)

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28

Sonoma Coast seems to fit my palette the best.

SLH and Edna Valley close seconds.

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29

What’s a camping trip without some Large Format lovin’, Hardy? [welldone.gif]

30

The subregional expressions in the SCM just really “do it” for me - to the degree that it trumps winemaking, to a certain extent. To me, most of the masterfully made Pinots from other areas seem lacking.

In addition to all the new plantings, there’s a real push for quality going on right now.

Get a bottle of the '06 McHenry Swan Clones from K&L and follow it over an evening.

I was blown away by a bottle of the '06 Pleasant Valley Vineyards estate recently - maybe Rhys meets Windy Oaks.

I’m a big fan of Woodside Vineyards, with darker lee side fruit, most comparable to Mount Eden. (Love the '07 Mount Eden, btw.)

The (inaugural) '07 Stefania has developed into an excellent wine, and barrel samples of the '08 have been stunning.

Love the various Big Basin bottlings, with a few such as Alfaro and Woodruff being stunning.

The best Cronins were from the Peter Martin Ray Vineyard on Mount Eden. Downhill made excellent versions in '06 & '07 and Nicholson started getting the fruit in '08. I’m really impressed with Ian Brand’s winemaking - he joined Nicholson as one of his gigs with the '08 vintage.

I’m impressed with the vineyard expression of the recently replanted Mountain Winery. Paul Masson’s old place just may turn out to be the best Pinot Noir site outside of Burgundy.

31

Really well stated and I 2nd this post.

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32

I think the three that have performed the best are -

  1. Sonoma Coast
  2. Santa Cruz Mountains
  3. Santa Rita Hills
33

The North Coast AVA is everything north of the Bay Area except for Humboldt (includes Napa County, Sonoma County, Mendocino County, Lake County, Marin County and Solano County). What up with the exclusion of Humboldt John? Who did you piss off? :slight_smile:

I think you don’t have the love for Mt Eden Alan cuz they’ve used whole cluster (varying amounts at different times tho).

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34

Windy Oaks is the most overlooked and underrated PN producer in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Those of us here that know it well are happy about that. :slight_smile:

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35

Not by me! [cheers.gif]

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36

SRH is my favorite certainly,

I don’t get the love for the RRV, maybe years ago but I’ve tasted there numerous times in the last 2-3 yrs and have yet to find much to crow about.

37

If you are going to bring a bottle into the wild, it better be a big one…

38

Who’s more well known and regarded, other than Mount Eden and Rhys? Those are the big three darlings of the wine boards. Windy Oaks has set the bar high in a way many other producers and growers have been inspired to follow.

39

RRV for me. However, since the RRV AVA is included in the Sonoma Coast AVA, I guess I could say SC…


Consider these producers:

J. Swan
Williams Selyem
Rochioli
Dehlinger
Scherrer
Farrell
Talisman
Inman
KB
Zepaltas
August West
Freeman
Siduri
Freestone
Keefer
Dutton-Goldfield
Merry Edwards
Sojourn
Bjornstad
Donnum Estate
Benovia
Arista
Russian Hill
Roessler
(I apologize to those left off the list, I have only scratched the surface)


I love the SCM wines and a handful are making some of the best in Ca. but there are so fewer that can stand with the above mentioned producers…

Regards,
Steve

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40

Eh, what do you know?
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