A week in Sonoma (research in the Rockpile, Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley AVAs, late Nov./early Dec.) uncovered this salient point: there’s been a surge in quality of Russian River Valley pinot noirs, but will they make us forget the fashionable lovelies coming out of the “true” Sonoma Coast, the coastal reaches of Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, or the new fangled pinots of Santa Lucia Highlands and Marin?
I did not know there was ever a dropoff in quality of the RRV. They have been the leader in Cali Pinots since the 1980s and I am not sure they have ever given up the crown in the collector’s eyes. I think actually with the increase of producers in the “True Sonoma Coast,” “Petaluma Gap,” “Marin,” “Santa Rita Hills,” “SLH” and “Santa Cruz Mountains,” I think they are under greater competition that ever before. Even though there are probably more good wines coming from there than 10 years ago, the surge in quality in other areas are even larger.
Marimar Torres’ past few vintages, with new vineyards coming into production, have yielded what I think are extremely good results… It’s a shame she doesn’t get more ink in the US.
Seems like Marimar gives her wines to Wine Enthusiast for ratings, but not WS. Consistently high scores from WE. Have enjoyed all the Pinots and Chards from her place. All estate grown grapes - don’t think she buys from anyone. Small production. Pinots are not “over the top” fruit forward. Good place for a tasting session, rarely crowded, and very nice people.
Indeed these wines combine obvious ‘California-ness’ in their power and fruit with a dose of elegance and restraint that’s not exactly Burgundian, but not too far off.
I’m not sure why anyone wants to pit one AVA versus another. There are great wines coming from all those places mentioned. And others as well. Even that place in France makes some tasty Pinot.
I kind of think of RRV as the granddaddy of CA Pinot … with other regions, as mentioned, coming along a bit later (and concurrently) with excellent quality. I think we’ve seen nothing but an amazing, trailblazing effort in propelling the quality of CA Pinot, thanks to the passion of dedicated winemakers and winegrowers.
Gentlemen, this was my first post, and I’m not sure if I’m getting the deep, sensory specific responses hoped for. If you examined the bones of my post, you will see that these are some of the key gists I thought might stimulate thought on stylistic evolution:
Quality “resurgence” doesn’t mean there was ever a downturn in quality, but rather an upswing. In conversations with some of the longer term vintners of the region, they openly acknowledge that there is a far deeper understanding of the grape and terroirs of the region today than there was ten, twenty years ago, and I’d have to concur based upon my experience over the same time period.
Many of us in the restaurant trade have gravitated to pinots from Fort Ross, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Lucia Highlands, and Willamette Valley, etc. precisely because we found RRV pinots of the past to be fat, often overripe/alcoholic, and more often than not, overoaked (re the latter factor: not to say many producers in newish regions haven’t been guilty of the same). I’m sure many of you pinophiles out there would also acknowledge that you don’t “fall” for the same obvious qualities today, nearly as much as you did in years past. That said, many of us in the restaurant trade are pleased with the recent swings away from such excesses.
One of my major points was that in the tasting of some 45 RRV/Sonoma Coast pinots during my last West Coast swing, one of the obvious things was how oak qualities figure in so little in most of them (the best and worst and middle grounds). It is as if (and this was discussed openly) North Coast pinot specialists are far less concerned with pleasing certain critics who show obvious preference to over-oaked pinots over under-oaked ones (citing Kermit Lynch, who once likened critics who like oaky wines to men obsessed with very large breasts). Of course, this means many of them depend less on those critics and scores to sell their wine, which is good news for pinot lovers who prefer delineation of fruit over barrel types.
The second major point of my piece was the proliferation of cooler climate RRV pinots from the southern end of the AVA (the subsections identified variously as Sebastopol Hills, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Occidental, et al.), much of which weren’t officially incorporated into the AVA until 2005. No question, these pinots are different from those from, most famously, the Middle Reach of the AVA, along the Russian River itself. They tend to be crisper, a touch lighter, and more often than not, more exotically perfumed and flavorful than the RRV of “olde.” This is not to say these are “better” than the RRV pinot styles of previous decades, but it has changed the complexion of what is identified as “RRV pinot noir” somewhat. In my opinion, the change is significant (and your opinion would be just as valid, whatever it may be).
'Nuff said… any thoughts on these specific points, my friends?
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