The only thing we and the wines have in common is alphabetical proximity.
I’m pretty sure 2006 was still when Jeff Emery was involved in the project. He was consulting and winemaking for the first few vintages, then there was a period at the end of the aughts when the Brassfields were doing their own thing before Brandon got involved, if memory serves. Definitely a Pinot vineyard worth paying attention to, especially as changing weather patterns (less rain, more heat, warmer winters) force pinot vineyards off the ridge tops and lower into gullies or lower elevations. Both Brandon and Jeff have made some great Pinots in their careers, especially with a little age.
I’d also add Cobb to the list. And if you’ve never had a 30 year old Chalone (or Hanzell, or Mount Eden, or SCMV), you owe it to yourself to see what that looks like. Seems like you might have spoken a little soon and now have a lot of work to do?
Ha! That’s awesome. I know the feeling(speaking to blind tastings of wines that just aren’t in the wheelhouse at all). It’s great that wines stimulate such passion.
Agreed. They’re not really Old world in style but IMO always have great balance and finesse. Really pretty wines.
This is exactly how I feel about them. I agree they are not Old world style – but if I want that, I drink Burgundy! I go for West Coast pinots when I’m looking for something a little different.
I haven’t tasted any in a while, but perhaps Santa Cruz Mountain Winery pinots would please, as well.
Yeah, I’ll have to keep my eyes open for more Armitage. I’ve been picking up a lot of these older Cali Pinots on auction to try and gauge my preferences, and I have to say that the best bottles for my palate were the older ones. That 1996 WH Smith Hellenthal blew my mind. The 2000 Copains were fantastic, too. It’s interesting that there are so many older Cali Pinots on auction that there is little interest in, as the reserve drops to $20 and below on many of these bottles. Of course, I’ve picked up some bad older bottles, too, but overall I have been very pleased and happy that people are getting rid of them for next to nothing.
+1 to Arcadian. Surprised his wines aren’t universally recognized/desired around here.
Have you tried Lioco, Failla, Ceritas, Tyler? I think Lioco and Tyler is great value for money - they feel very Oregonian to me. Failla a little bigger and earthier. Ceritas very restrained.
Yes that was my Ken Burnap reference in my original post. I’ll expand on that later.
That speaks more to your inexperience than anything.
The irony of your response is quite humorous…
Ha, nothing against the listed producers he mentioned (namely, Goodfellow), but to say CA Pinots are just fruit bombs is too crazy of a blanket statement, no?
After tasting a too many that were overly expensive, overly sweet, and generally overdone why keep trying more?
Thanks for the advice. I’ll have to seek those out next time I am touring wineries in California.
I would agree that there are a good number that I don’t feel are fruit bombs anymore, but that’s just my palate. I just laughed because your response was also a bit of a blanket statement. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
There are always so many more wines than anyone can taste. I don’t blame Brian for fishing in waters he knows will produce what he wants. I generally do the same and then wait for someone whose palate I trust to point me to new wines.
Are young Grand Cru Red Burgundys fruit bombs?
Couldn’t agree more! I had a 2000 Jensen recently that was a real stunner - adored it. They taste nowhere near as good when they are youthful.
Josh Jensen came and have a tasting at Oxford whilst I was there and all his older wines were fabulous. The young wines seemed fun but nothing special. I had a 15 Mills recently that was an absolutely hilarious wine to drink, but it gave away nothing of what (I hope, with the recent jiggery-pokery with change in ownership and winemaker) a brilliant wine it would age into.
I was very surprised to find, back in 2005, when I went into a wine shop in Washington DC that the owners were very sniffy about Calera. Their attitude seemed to be, “We’ve got all these flash, muy expensivo California Cabernets and yet you seem so excited about this cheap, boring Pinot! Why on earth…?” I did very well with my suitcase-straining stash I started drinking when they were 15-years-old.
Oldest wine I’ve had from him was a 1970 Zinfandel (from purchased fruit) in the late 90s. It was only 12.5%, but deliciously scented and soft - but I’m glad he stuck to Pinot!
Cheers,
Davy.
Interesting comment. For my palate, they tend to be…especially one very famous domain. Sometimes oaky.
Around 1985 some people in NYC staged an interesting tasting of red Burgundy and Oregon and Ca PInot. In the morning session the labels were out and people voted BG 1, Or 2, and Ca 3. In the afternoon the wines were presented blind and everyone got things ‘wrong’ and discovered how much they thought California Pinot was really Burgundy. Even worse, they thought the Oregon wines were from California.
I suppose this shows how much our brains and not our palates do the tasting. We see the label and that tells us what to think. The fact is there are all sorts of styles here and in Oregon.
Kevin once pointed out that generalizing about Burgundians leads to mistakes and the same is true here.
Some of you have attended the Pinot conference on the Umpqua. Back in the 80s David Graves of Saintsbury and I were tasting through a panel of wines with an esteemed member of the Oregon winemaking community, who bet us that one wine we were tasting was French. As David had made the wine he took the bet. Saintsbury is a winery nobody talks about any more. When I repped them in the UK they won golds at the International Wine Challenge three years in a row. That reminds me of the trip the late Dick Ward --David’s partner-- and I made to Oxford. I learned a valuable lesson: don’t go out drinking with people less than half your age.
David, I think Josh’s first Zins were made around 1975 or 1976. In 1970 he was either in Burgundy or Oxford. Mike Waller is now making the wine at Calera and will continue to do a great job.