What Is the Deal with Carneros?

WINE TALK
61

There are a lot of wineries doing very well with carneros grapes and not all of them are in carneros. In carneros:
Truchard
Artesa
Gloria F
Etude
Molnar Family/Poseidon is on fire
Bouchaine

But they don’t get much press… too much old news?

62

Maybe that’s why Manfred stropped trying a number of years ago. If he can’t do it, nobody can…

OK. I respect that this is your opinion. Mine is that pinot noir does not stand up to manipulation the way that Syrah and Grenache do.

63

This is an old thread but I rooted it up because, as a millenial wine lover, I have no old history with Saintsbury or Acacia, and to me Carneros meant very little in my early learnings and tasting of wine…

I mean I had an outstanding Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay at Christmas 6 years ago but didn’t look into it…then a couple years later I loved Truchard’s Merlot and Roussanne as random choices that I could afford at Boston restaurants…and always thought “hmm, must check out Carneros more” but never did.

Flash forward to last year when I moved to Santa Rosa to work my first harvest. I go to a couple intern parties where everyone’s brought something from their winery or otherwise something local. All three of my favorite Chardonnays are Carneros fruit: two Hudsons and a Hyde. Later I have the chance to taste one of the Merlot-dominated years of Hyde de Villaine’s Belle Cousine, a couple more superb bottles of Truchard’s Merlot, and some very promising Syrah.

I know that vineyard management plays a big role here, but if Hyde, Hudson, and Truchard can all routinely impress with their fruit, I can’t help but think there must be something worth exploring there. It just…doesn’t seem to be Pinot Noir?

Any other suggestions for Carneros Chardonnay, Merlot, or Syrah?

64

Ben

I would take a look at Saintsbury. I used to rep them in the UK, where they got lots of rewards.

Funny, Merlot and Syrah do well there but what’s the joke about a case of syrah and a case of the clap??

Try the Poseidon Vineyard wines from Molnar…excellent qpr…they have a tasting room across the street from Gloria Ferrer…not sure if it is open.

A winery I am associated with, Uvaggio,just bottled a Carneros Vermentino…out this fall.

65

Carneros produces great Syrah. Look no further than Las Madres and Hudson.

66

One of the winemakers at Acacia and at Poseidon was (is?) Michael Terrien.

Michael has a new project that is somewhat similar to the Cameron Hughes de Negoce offers (high quality wine, bought bulk, white labeled).

If anyone is interested, he currently has a Carneros Sauvignon Blanc on offer.
https://becheur.com/product/19NVSB/

67

I spent 10 years in Carneros.

Carneros dirt is clay … “Carneros mud”" as i call it. My personal opinion is that Syrah, Chard, and Merlot are fantastic south of 12 and along Ramal Rd close to the Bay. North of 12 the clay dries out a bit, but unless you’re on up on the border of the Gap its all still quite close dirt wise. North of 12 you will also find some choice Cab Franc. Pinot plantings takes some time to establish itself in Carneros.

Weather-wise… its cool and breezy. Most days i’d be fogged in until noon. You can tell if we would be in for a hot day if the balloons were to the west of us by 9 am due to some central valley winds. I’d wear my ubiquitous hoodie most of the year (I currently work up in Calistoga… i don’t even own a hoodie anymore.)

Carneros really doesn’t have a lot of brick & mortar wineries. It’s primarily vineyard land. We still would do gangbuster business in the tasting rooms because of the proximity to San Francisco. The region does well, and isn’t hurting money-wise. There are fantastic wines made from the area- Bouchaine, Hyde, B
Kosuge, and Selene are the producers that the IWC and hipsters would probably be more inclined to hype. Saints bury still.makes quality wines. Etude (where I spent 10 years in the cellar from 2005-2015), has excellent designate bottlings off the Estate Vineyard- which is on the Sonoma side of Carneros close to the gap and off the mud.

68

RYME Cellars makes superb Vermentino from Las Brisas Vineyard in Carneros. It is an annual buy for us.

https://www.rymecellars.com/store/detail?item=2019-vermentino-hers

69

I spent 10 years in Carneros.

Carneros dirt is clay … “Carneros mud”" as i call it. My personal opinion is that Syrah, Chard, and Merlot are fantastic south of 12 and along Ramal Rd close to the Bay. North of 12 the clay dries out a bit, but unless you’re on up on the border of the Gap its all still quite close dirt wise. North of 12 you will also find some choice Cab Franc. Pinot plantings takes some time to establish itself in Carneros.

Weather-wise… its cool and breezy. Most days i’d be fogged in until noon. You can tell if we would be in for a hot day if the balloons were to the west of us by 9 am due to some central valley winds. I’d wear my ubiquitous hoodie most of the year (I currently work up in Calistoga… i don’t even own a hoodie anymore.)

Carneros really doesn’t have a lot of brick & mortar wineries. It’s primarily vineyard land. We still would do gangbuster business in the tasting rooms because of the proximity to San Francisco. The region does well, and isn’t hurting money-wise. There are fantastic wines made from the area- Bouchaine, Hyde, B
Kosuge, and Selene are the producers that the IWC and hipsters would probably be more inclined to hype. Saints bury still.makes quality wines. Etude (where I spent 10 years in the cellar from 2005-2015), has excellent designate bottlings off the Estate Vineyard- which is on the Sonoma side of Carneros close to the gap and off the mud.

70

When you are inCarneros, it’s sweatshirt and jeans and heavy boots. I once went out to the vineyard in somenice leather shoes after a rain…got the mud all off six months later.

As you drive to Calistoga you do a slow strip tease in the car and end up in shorts, sandals and a t shirt.

71

Another note about Carneros is that all that clay is loaded with nitrogen.

72

Does the high nitrogen content make those clays more or less suitable for certain varieties?

73

From which producers?

74

Funnily enough this (“Hers”) was in a blind Vermentino tasting I went to this evening. Was my close 2nd of the 7 wines - really nice stuff. Thanks for the tip, will definitely be seeking out more.

75

So many great new or newish wines coming out of California these days. We’re lucky to be out here and able to sample many of them.

That RYME Vermentino is a perfect example.

Tom

76

Grew up in Carneros on my family’s Pinot vineyard. Vines are now 48 years old and still producing high quality fruit. Sold fruit to Saintsbury in their early years, Etude and Mondavi for their Reserve. There are still some vineyards that are absolutely world class (Hyde, Hudson, Sangiacomo) which are the fruit source for vineyard designates for labels such as Kistler, Aubert, Kongsgaard, Ramey, Hobbs, Bedrock Patz & Hall, TOR and more. Chardonnay is probably the best fit in the AVA with Pinot, Syrah and Merlot behind.

Not a stretch to say that overall RRV, Santa Lucia and Santa Barbara are a better suited growing environment for Chardonnay and Pinot. Plus there aren’t many wineries in Carneros itself in comparison to the before mentioned AVA’s. I also think that the AVA doesn’t have the funding of marketing dollars to showcase their AVA as others in the surrounding areas. Kind of a quiet growing region still growing high quality fruit.

My family’s fruit is majority of the make up for Mondavi Reserve Pinot. Dry farmed, head trained, 48 year old Pinot vines. Their winemaker Geneviève Janssens often says its some of the best Pinot she gets for the winery year in and year out. The make up for the remainder of the bottling comes from Hyde Vineyard. Both Mr. Galloni and Lisa Perrotti of Parker gave the last two vintages of 2015 and 2016 a 92+ which we’re delighted about.

Cheers to our sleepy Carneros [cheers.gif]

77

Gabe,
I must have tasted your fruit a lot when we did cooper tastings at Mondavi. Jean Francois of Francois Freres has frequently poured Mondavi Reserves for his Burgundian buddies blind and completely messed with their minds.

Sometime in the early 80s somebody from Acacia visited Burgundy and gave bottles to various people. In 1991 I remember having dinner chez Francois with an English friend. Jean opened '80 La Tache, Cros Parantoux and an Acacia…'81?? The Acacia did not get pushed off the table…au contraire!! One minute Acacia was using some great fruit and then I remember a tasting with Matthew G. He was sourcing any vineyard that would meet corporate’s price…very sad.

Sometimes I think people judge a region’s wines by its beauty. West of Paso Robles and the central Napa–not to mention the hills–can be quite beautiful. Carneros can remind you of West Texas with vines.A little windy.

78

Very cool Mel. I would imagine you tasted some incredible wines over the years being in the cooperage world, Francois Freres included . And yes, Carneros is windy as heck! Almost as much as Soledad (Chalone AVA).

79

There are some great wines coming out of Monterey county but all the tasting rooms are close to Carmel.
Somehow fields of carrots don’t excite the wine buying public… who knew?

I never think of Chalone as windy but it sure gets hot.

80

A long-time favorite of mine, way under the radar, is Ancien. Their go-to bottling is Carneros Pinot Noir. It is consistently excellent. They have other wines from Carneros that I know less well and now do more with Coombsville, but they are a testament to the potential for excellent Pinot Noir in Carneros.

Dan Kravitz