A couple years ago on a “cave” tour with Jeff, he stated something very much like what Mike said. It would certainly be fair game if they backed off that idea, if they found it didn’t allow some vineyards to show their best.
Um…
I love red burgundy. Witness me going all drooly-script about an 09 Mugneret-Gibourg CM Feusselottes I had on Monday (shameless plug to read recent TN thread!)
I also love a fair number of California Pinots. If what’s being asked for is a top 7 or so that I would always want to have in my cellar, then at this point…(and no, I don’t have all of these in my cellar at the moment)
Littorai
Kutch
Rochioli single vineyard stuff
Skewis
Rivers-Marie
Small Vines
Sojourn–certain SVDs
That’s leaving off a lot of super producers, BTW, who I really like
Is this answer permissible?
kwa heri,
Selleck is a grand cru quality vineyard. Some of the Rhys vineyards will probably prove to be as well, but need more of a track record before we can say for sure. I can’t think of any other serious candidates in California, and don’t have enough experience with mature Oregon wines to speculate there.
Mike & Larry,
Here’s a post from Kevin about the oak percentages, I was too high with the 60%+ but there is significant variability:
Still looking for a post about whole-cluster percentages… edit: in the same thread Kevin says that WC% in their Pinots varies between 50-100%:
Brian, yes I was, but I wasn’t sure a comparison could be made…I kinda went out on a limb…it looks like we still have alot of progress to make in the vineyards
I think we’re more in need of the enlightening effect of Time than we are progress. Just my opinion.
Mike,
We vary the amount of Whole cluster (50-100%) and percent of new oak barrels (5-50%) in reaction to each vineyard’s inherent character and capabilities. For example, some vineyards (and some sections within a vineyard) do not fully ripen the stems as well as others. This ability to fully ripen the stems (or not) is a function of the specific terroir and we have learned more about this each year.
Meanwhile, the need for and ability to integrate oak also varies by vineyard. Our Horseshoe and Alpine vineyards have big tannins that benefit from oak for resolution and they also absorb and easily balance it. In contrast, Bearwallow is quite oak averse and even small amount can dominate or hide that vineyard’s expression. It is possible to see the same sort of differences in Burgundian villages like Vosne and Volnay. Vosnes are large muscular wines and usually see a significant amount of new oak. Meanwhile Volnay’s elegance is quickly masked by new oak and the leading producers of this commune use very little. Producers (such as Etienne de Montille) making wines from both communes seem to invariably use more new oak for their Vosne wines than their Volnays.
IMO, these differing decisions that are reactions to the inherent character of the vineyard help to better express terroir but I can see how some might debate that assertion.
Adding a few more thoughts…
While I would strongly argue that our winemaking decisions enhance our terroirs’ expression, if someone desires to compare wines made with absolutely no difference in winemaking decisions I would recommend the Home, Skyline and Swan Terrace Pinots. All three are 100% WC and have about the same amount of new oak (or as close as barrel math can get them).
In regards to some of the discussion above, I believe it would be easier to teach a wine drinker to identify the signatures of various Santa Cruz Mtn vineyards than it would be to learn the more subtle differences between many of Burgundy’s terroirs. This is because SC Mtn geology contains such vast differences including soils from two completely different tectonic plates (sort of the geological equivalent of different planets) while Burgundy’s crus all have various permutations of the (glorious) clay and limestone theme.
Of course, identifiable differences have only a little to do with quality and as many here know, I am unabashed in my deep passion for Burgundy!!
Excellent Kevin…appreciate the insight
Ah—sorry, I misread/misunderstood! Multi-tasking doesn’t always work!
Will defer to all the other fine thoughts on this, although I’ve always found wines from Savoy vineyard in AV to have a great deal of character no matter who makes them. Will continue to track this interesting discussion, thanks for starting Mark.