Paul, thank you for pointing that out. And, Lew, thank you as always for your comments.
I must truly be doing something wrong if my points are coming across as angling for a spot in the tasting. As Paul points out, they don’t need my wines.
One of my points, though, was that if, as Corey pointed out (and I believe as well), a large number of producers believe that they are striving for balanced wines, then have a diversity of voices on a panel would better serve the goal of “promoting dialogue around the meaning and relevance of balance in California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.” I still think that is true. But there is no complaint from me about Siduri being excluded from the tasting (and if there was then I should have emailed Raj and/or Jasmine and asked to have my wines considered for inclusion. After all, I know how to get in touch with both of them, buy grapes from the Hirsch Vineyard, and Jasmine is currently kicking my ass in Words With Friends).
Adam, I agree with all that. Certainly all producers strive for balance as they define it. Calling this event “In Pursuit of Balance” and describing it as “promoting dialogue around the meaning and relevance of balance” seems a bit provacative, as if the Lower Octane guys invited to the event have a monopoly on balance.
I’'m not sure they’re saying they have a monopoly, but the “movement” is obviously somewhat reactionary. Clearly these producers have banded together to draw attention to the fact that there are some fantastic wines being produced in a style radically different than those that are usually praised by WA and WS. I can definitely see why they would want to group together wines with some similar characteristics as a way to market/raise awareness. While obviously “balance” means different things to different people I think it makes sense to put together this group of producers who share a common ground.
As far as Adam’s comments go, I know he seems to enjoy playing devil’s advocate a lot of the time. But he usually has a well thought and and usually well defended position. And I also know I was pretty shocked when I read that Mr. Paar excludes wines from his lists based solely on alcohol content. That sounds a lot more like the pursuit of low alcohol than the pursuit of balance to me. And this comes from someone who’s cellar is predominantly California Pinot, with most of it coming from the “balanced” camp.
I didn’t go to the event this year (partly because the cost went up, and because I could see it was going to be a much bigger, more crowded event). But I would say that the wines at the first event a year ago were in many ways no different from the mainstream of wines you would find at, say, Pinot Days - just a smaller selection. Maybe there was a small slant toward lower alcohol wines, but on average I didn’t feel that the totality was far from the norm in California. I was particularly amused by Raj’s wine, which was probably one of the riper, higher alcohol wines in the room (for that year anyway). I don’t remember if Adam’s wines were there the first year, but many of them would have fit in quite well.
It’s kind of like people who call themselves ‘progressive’ - quite a backhanded slap at everyone else… But I digress.
Frankly I boycott RN74-anything due to the inherent and underlying pomposity of the no-wine-over-14.5 rule. It just makes it very much an us vs them situation. While I certainly can’t speak for him, I think that’s what Adam is trying to point out.
Maybe I wrong but I don’t really know of any other event that has such a subjective cut off. Most are varietal focused, appellation, etc. - not driven by an arbitrary concept of ‘balance’. Frankly it’s silly, as where do you really draw the line? I will bet all of us would draw the balance line at a slightly different place, even if we had similar palates. As for the alcohol limit, why 14.5? Why not 14.25 or 14.6? I’ve heard his excuse but it holds no water as you can be 100 basis points off anyway if you are above 14.
And calling someone out to be provocative only to ‘create buzz’. Wow. As they say where I’m from, thems fight’n words. I wouldn’t exactly call that taking the high road.
Although in the end, my cellar is heavily weighted towards the wines poured at the event, but I don’t tell people who drink different wines than I like they are out of balance…
Has RN74/Raj’s alcohol line in the sand changed? I was under the impression that it was only pinot’s under 14%…was I wrong about that, or has it changed to 14.5%. My preference (personal and Ladd Cellars) is below 14.5%…tho I agree this is a bit, tho not completely, arbitrary.
Interestingly, the Manifesto of Balance, on the IPOB website, makes no mention of 14%, 14.5% or other hard limits and doesn’t mention alcohol any more than any other element of wine balance. Does anyone know what the range of stated (on the label) alcohol present at the event?
I enjoyed it. Nice to know about these producers, see what they’re doing, get to taste their wines, in several cases meet the winemakers, etc.
Lots of very lovely pinot being poured, but the real revelation may have been the Chardonnay.
A number of producers finding a balance between cool climate California fruit, subtle use of oak spice, stoney minerality and refreshing citrus acidity.
I may have to start drinking more Chard.
I already knew, had experienced and have filled my cellar with some of my favorites like Littorai and Mount Eden, and their wines were, as usual, stunning, so the ones that were new to me and stood out were;
2009 Copain Kiser En Haut Pinot Noir
2009 Cobb Joy Road Chardonnay
The most interesting wine of the evening had to be the 1998 Calera Reed Vineyard Pinot Noir that Josh Jensen was pouring.
This has aged into a real beguiling beauty with lots of tertiary nuances.
Special mention goes to the 2010 Peay Pommerian Pinot.
First time I’ver had a wine that smelled and tasted like fragrant garden roses.
Seems to me I run into Adam Lee on almost every wine forum, blog or Twitter page defending things like high alcohol, enzyme extraction, watering back, tartaric acid addition, etc. and arguing against those who question such practices.
It’s cool that someone plays devil’s advocate and adds variety to the discussion, but the problem with constantly playing the devil’s advocate is that you start to form an identification.
I have to admit, since I’ve started running into this constant drum beat from Adam, I have stopped buying his wines.
It wasn’t really a conscious decision per se, I just think a slightly negative association has developed in my mind and since there are so many great wines out there, it doesn’t take that much to pass on any given wine.
Quick break in the action: I must note that regardless of the context of the event, Richard seems to give a variety of styles a fair evaluation (so long as pinot is 85% de-stemmed!), more so than other professional critics (is he one now?), regardless of his personal tastes. His reports always seem to be relatively free of agenda and bias.
Completely agree about Richard’s ability/willingness to fairly evaluate such a wide variety of styles…tho I believe Richard has stated his preference for 75% (or higher) destemmed Pinot, not 85%.
Well, I’ll buy more wines from anyone fighting the low alcohol fascists! I actually prefer lower alcohol wines and rarely enjoy “big” wines any more…but I absolutely detest the “low alcohol is quality, all else is crap” crowd. So I guess his sales will remain the same
First of all,nobody would ever say I defend high octane wines.
I’ve known and argued with Adam a long time now and let’s analyze each of your points.
He can speak for himself (And has done so over the years)but I thought a perspective of a long established low octane fan might be of value. I do have a bit of bias as I genuinely like the guy.
“Defends high alcohol” - He doesn’t really defend it but argues that the higher octane wines can be balanced with the alcohol not evident. I agree that there are some cases where I’ve been completely fooled by the lack of heat and the good balance of a 14.5+% PN.
Adam does not go out purposely with the goal of picking ripe and watering back as his MO. He plays the hand he is given.
“Defends enzyme extraction” - I would say he rarely uses this technique and simply says it’s just a tool in a winemakers bag o’ tricks.
“Defends watering back” - Once again, he rarely uses this technique unless absolutely necessary. Even RHYS watered back some Alesia in the 2004 vintage. Saying it is occasionally necessary is NOT advocating it’s use on a regular basis.
“Defends tartaric acid additions” - Once again, only in extreme cases, not as a regular protocol.
Adam is extremely forthright as to what he does.
He has told me he tries to make a balanced wine with minimum alcohol.
With some of the vineyards he uses, it’s difficult to make a balanced low octane wine.
I regard his wines as middle ground in the Low vs High Octane Pinot Discussion…
Thanks so much for making many of the points I would tend to make (had I not been on the road all day in Scottsdale, selling wine).
Rod, I guess one of the points I wonder about is, if I am consistenly arguing in favor of these various interventions, how that is playing the Devil’s Advocate. I was under the impression that someone playing that part is willing to take any position, even one that he or she doesn’t agreee with, just for the sake of arguing. But if I am taking these positions consistently (to the point of a drum beat), then might the real issue be that you simply don’t agree with the positions that you perceive that I take? If that is the case, then that is more than acceptable to me, I believe what I believe and won’t change that to get your sale. But I must count myself as lucky that I am able to separate my enjoyment of wine from any philosophical winemaking debate I have with anyone (btw, I had the 09 Cobb Joy Road Chardonnay on my anniversary on March 25th and enjoyed it tremendously, as you did as well).
One of my favorite things about talking to Adam is that I get the sense that he is very much not done learning as a winemaker, even though he has more experience at his craft than many California Pinot Noir producers.
Years ago in college I studied for a glorious semester with a great American poet, and one of the things he often pointed out in the work of younger writers was that they tried too hard to define the world via sweeping statements and loud proclamations. They assumed authority over things they should not have. It was a sign of maturity when a poet began seeking answers more than he sought to answer questions.
It would be nice if wine were so simple that picking at lower Brix and consequently fermenting to lower alcohol guaranteed better wine. It would be nice if particular new oak percentages guaranteed a certain flavor profile in Burgundy. Except, as Adam notes, sometimes higher malic acid means more acid adjustment. Sometimes 100% new oak in the right hands on the right vineyard in Burgundy tastes less oaky than 50%, and who knows what will happen to those “oaky” flavors with aging?
I find myself drawn to winemakers with questions much more than I am drawn to those with answers. And, even though I am drawn to Burgundy first and foremost and my only mailing list is Rhys, it seems to me that there is far more rigidity on the “low-octane” side of the debate. In fact, some of them have done so well staking out the position that to even ask questions about what they do or offer any alternative theories is enough for casual observers to place the questioners into the “high-octane” category without really bothering to check and see if that perception is truth. Yes, Lew, I’m looking at you. Rob Beck as well. I suspect Adam has ranged up and down the alcohol spread as much as any Pinot producer in California.
Perhaps California Pinot Noir is best served by groups of cheerleading winemakers backslapping each other over their principles with nary a critical word to be uttered. I doubt it. I have no doubt that some winemakers would prefer that world. It is certainly easier, particularly if you cannot live on internal validation alone. Some winemakers apparently need a constant feed of positivity from wine boards and seminars or they cannot live.
For people who love dogmatic lines drawn in the sand about your wine, I don’t think you realize how smug and arrogant they seem to those of us who don’t. The Raj Parr/Adam Lee/Keefer/Carg moment is a perfect example - Adam challenged Mr. Parr’s assumptions, and to Mr. Parr’s credit, he accepted that there were exceptions to his assumptions. I had heard about the “no wines over 14.5%” rule and promptly rolled my eyes - any sommelier relying on a wine label for alcohol information should absolutely know better. But, that he was willing to accept that Adam’s wine worked over his stated alcohol threshold made me reconsider my view of him.
Perhaps the best lesson I took away from that professor was to beware of dogma and certainty. I learned was that certainty is the enemy of wonder, and wonder makes more beauty than anything.
Lots of good points being made all around, but I thought this thread was about IPOB and recognizing Richard Jennings’ work. Somehow it became the 99th (or is it 999th) low alc vs high alc pinot thread.
I don’t know the IPOB people or why they chose not to do a panel this year. Maybe they decided to just present the wines to make their case, and give the bickering a rest. Which sounds like a damn good idea to me.
Fair enough, Jim. That is a great post right there, evoking your experience studying with the poet in college. I like this especially… “It was a sign of maturity when a poet began seeking answers more than he sought to answer questions.” Relating this to our subject matter (wine), I see this effect when relative new-comers to Burgundy try to define certain absolutes, while those who have studied it longer seem more comfortable with recognizing that many of the mysteries of Burgundy defy absolute conclusions, just to cite one example. So I guess you are saying that I have defined Adam into a box where he may not actually reside, and I will try my best not to do that. Thank you.
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