[wine] Hope for Pinot

Cheers, Jim Signs of hope for Pinot Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 3:05 PM in Events, Pinot Noir, Wine 4 comments Share33 share E-mail Pulling a cork for Pinot's true nature. (Lance Iverson/The Chronicle, 2007) The Pinot zeitgeist nowadays is dour. Yon beloved grape has jumped the shark, they say. It has become Syrah (or Cabernet, or Merlot, or whatever). It has lost its transparent soul. Sitting here in California only magnifies this belief, because California Pinot seems to bear the brunt of this trend: extended cold soaking (to further extract flavor and color), lots of new oak and excessive alcohol. Not all, of course, but the Pinot-as-jam trend certainly has its roots in California, and on average we.re more likely to see specimens here than anywhere else. So I went into tasting at the International Pinot Noir Celebration last weekend in McMinnville, Ore., with that lingering sense of fear that we would see a grape fully exploited by fame. Five years ago during my last visit to IPNC, that was the worry. Happily, I can say that Pinot hasn.t fully succumbed. IPNC is, admittedly, an event for Pinot purists, and the wines shown there are a fastidiously selected grouping . which is a nice way of saying that Pinots crafted to be Zinfandel aren.t really so welcome. Oregon, as home base, gets a heavy representation, as you might expect, and Oregon still hews to some bit of restraint. But on balance, tasting across a global cross-section, there are no shortage of Pinot producers still committed to Pinot as it was in the pre-fame days: defined by transparent fruit, earthy nuance and a light hand with winemaking. This was true across the range of 2007 and 2008 vintages being poured. It could be found in Italy.s Alto Adige, in Canada.s Okanagan Valley, in Australia.s Yarra Valley, in New Zealand and Argentina and of course, Burgundy and Oregon. Some of the California specimens on display seemed robust by comparison; ironically, a label like Dutton-Goldfield that comes across as restrained versus its Russian River counterparts was among the more fruit-packed bottles on offer. I.ll mention a few wines that particularly underscored this finding. The 2007 Cristom Louise Pinot Noir from Oregon was plenty meaty but with the quintessential whole-cluster spice that Steve Doerner.s wines often show. Though Oregon.s light 2007 vintage was generally panned, the best wines are now coming around and showing a delicacy and complexity that will probably force some reconsideration. Same with the 2007 Brandborg Bench Lands, from far south in Oregon in the Umpqua Valley. That wine had seemed almost insubstantial to me on last tasting, but it has found its flesh. And the 2007 Eyrie Dundee Hills Reserve, from perhaps Oregon.s defining Pinot label, shows a beautiful, lighter mineral presence that gives me confidence in Jason Lett (son of founder David Lett) as he guides that house forward. In previewing the 2008s, there were ripe, subtle standouts from Bergstrom, Brooks, Patricia Green, Scott Paul, St. Innocent and the relatively new Winderlea, to name a few. All showed a lovely ripeness without sacrificing the foresty edge that Oregon can display. While Oregon has been trending toward that deep-extract style of late (and a few were on display) most of these showed the quintessential somewhereness (thanks, Matt Kramer) that Pinot demands. But the California contingent wasn.t far off. It was a pleasure to see Jason Drew from Mendocino on the roster, one of our Winemakers to Watch last year. His 2007 Drew Monument Tree was a pleasure before, and it has opened to show just a bit more subtle musk. This was the California wine that put the Burgundians and Oregonians in their place. From just south on the coast, the 2007 Flowers Sea View Ridge was full of tar and mint aromas, remarkably focused for a .07 California Pinot. To look farther afield, the 2007 J. Hofstatter Barthenau Vigna S. Urbano from Alto Adige showed beautiful tobacco and deep cherry notes, a young, tight Pinot with Alpine kick. The 2008 Tantalus from the Okanagan Valley was a leathery, bright thing, with lots of wild currant highlights. And the 2008 Churton from Marlborough further shows why that region.s Sauvignon Blanc obsession is worth diversifying. Finally, on Burgundy, we had a curious cross-section of producers, but it was a pleasure to encounter Olivier Leriche from Domaine de l.Arlot. His 2007 Nuits Saint George 1er Cru Clos des Forets Saint Georges is still a tannic baby, though its pretty underbrush and plum-skin notes are hopeful signs that it will settle into the more delicate steps of the 2007s. The wines of Maison Ambroise were on full display, and when Francois Ambroise reins the oak a bit, the wines shine. The 2008 Nuits Saint Georges Veilles Vignes still got 70 percent new oak, but the 80-year-old vines provided intense enough fruit to match. The straight village 2008 Chambolle-Musigny from Jean-Jacques Confuron was a study in elegance, with just a bit of suede-like texture and surprising power for the satiny Chambolle style. And of course, I had to try the two-fer efforts of Alexandrine Roy, who makes both her own wine in Gevrey-Chambertin as well as an Oregon effort for Phelps Creek. The 2008 Domaine Marc Roy Cuvee Alexandrine Gevrey-Chambertin showed a subtle smoke, while the 2008 Phelps Creek Cuvee Alexandrine Columbia Gorge was tangy and full of funky citrus. Both memorable, and both made me happy because Alexandrine was one of the true finds at the last IPNC I attended. To the doubters, then, I would say: Hang in there. The chaos part of the Pinot revolution is likely to subside soon as the next big thing (i.e., Malbec) gets its due. In the wake, true Pinot believers will still be there . and so will true Pinot. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *