[wine] California Pinot

I don't recall if i posted the Part 1 previously. Nothing under $42 so probably not. C, J What does an AVA designation really mean? By Dave McIntyre, Published: April 17 First of two parts on California pinot noir When you buy an American wine, do you pay attention to the geographic description on the label? Most people probably don.t, as long as the word .California. is in there somewhere. In Europe, place is paramount. That geographic label is called an .appellation,. formalized in 20th-century France as .appellation d.origine controllee. or AOC. The legal tag was designed as a guard against fraud: cheap plonk passed off as more reputable and expensive wines. But the concept lies in the realization that certain areas and vineyards produce superior wines. The smaller and more precise the designation, the closer the connection to the wine.s terroir, and of course, the wines become more rare and expensive. Recommended Sonoma Coast wines In the United States, the .American Viticultural Area. (AVA) designation is based more on, well, politics and marketing. AVAs often seem to have no rhyme or reason except for their marketing value, which is questionable. Take the Sonoma Coast, for example. That AVA covers about 750 square miles stretching from Marin County in the south to Mendocino in the north, and includes the Russian River Valley and parts of the Sonoma Valley and Carneros AVAs; essentially, any part of Sonoma County known for producing chardonnay or pinot noir. If there.s an .appellation. justification to the wide-ranging AVA, it.s the coastal influence that moderates temperatures and helps preserve acidity in the wines. The problem is, the coastal influence varies throughout Sonoma County. Up north, on remote hillsides near Cazadero or the small town of Annapolis approaching the Mendocino County line, is an area known informally as the .extreme Sonoma Coast.. Here the first Western explorers were Russians, not Spaniards. Vineyards sprawl along steep slopes where the biggest threat to grapes is not mildew but wild boar. These vineyards are accessible only by driving the Pacific Coast Highway, up switchback curves along roads frequently washed out by storms. This is where the San Andreas Fault arcs toward the Pacific, having churned up a melange of soil types millenniums ago. And it is where you.ll find Hirsch Vineyards, producing stellar pinot noir grown on 45-degree slopes just two miles from the ocean. Within sight across the San Andreas, but about a 20-minute roundabout drive away, is Flowers Vineyard and Winery and its Camp Meeting Ridge Vineyard, another source of stunning pinot noir. These vineyards lie above the fog line, with exposure to the sun and its warmth. Should they really be in the same AVA as vineyards farther south in the Petaluma Gap or Carneros, where fog regularly shrouds the vines? The AVA is so disrespected that several wineries closer to the Pacific have formed a group they call the .West Sonoma Coast Vintners.. Efforts are underway to carve smaller AVAs out of the Sonoma Coast. A small part of the .extreme coast. was granted appellation status last fall as Fort Ross-Seaview, but some wineries, at least, are not rushing to adopt the new address. .We haven.t decided yet, but I think within a few years we will have the Fort Ross-Seaview designation on our labels,. says Jasmine Hirsch, of Hirsch Vineyards. .I strongly believe that the more specific we can be about where the wine comes from, the better it is for the consumer.. Other wineries, including Flowers, are more hesitant. .We feel that consumers know us as a Sonoma Coast winery,. says winemaker Darrin Low. .Instead of promoting the appellation, we want to promote the vineyard.. So for now, .Sonoma Coast. leaves much to explore, but the name itself is not a guide. The best wines are exclusive and expensive, often found on finer restaurant wine lists. But they are worth seeking out as some of the best pinot noir California has to offer. Recommended Sonoma Coast wines Next week: A group of vintners is trying to strike a different direction in style. McIntyre blogs at www.dmwineline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine. Pinot noir in balance the ultimate goal By Dave McIntyre, Published: April 24 Second of two parts on California pinot noirs Listen to wine lovers talk about their favorite drink and you will soon hear the word .balance.. Some are so enthusiastic about balance, they might as well be discussing their favorite sports teams. A group of California winemakers called In Pursuit of Balance is leading the movement back to elegance with regard to pinot noir and chardonnay, two wines that are rather easily knocked out of whack by heavy handling in the winery. The group was started last year by Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards, a leading pinot producer on the extreme northern Sonoma Coast, and Rajat Parr, wine director for the Michael Mina Group of restaurants, including Bourbon Steak in the District. Parr refuses to sell pinot or chardonnay in excess of 14 percent alcohol at his RN74 restaurants. California pinot noir recommendations .Our intention is to promote and celebrate pinot noirs of elegance, balance, non-manipulation and site specificity,. Hirsch wrote in an e-mail interview. .For the most part, these are not wines that attack your mouth with big fruit flavors and oak. They are more subtle wines that are exciting for their finesse and complexity. So they perhaps require a bit more from the wine drinker, but ultimately I believe that this approach to pinot noir is the most rewarding.. So far, consumers are responding. In Pursuit of Balance held standing-room-only tastings in the past few weeks in San Francisco and New York. But what is balance in a wine, and why are so many people debating it? Balance refers to the relationship among wine.s four main elements: fruit, acidity, alcohol and tannin. If one or more of these dominates the others, the wine is unbalanced. If a wine.s tartness makes you pucker, it has too much acidity; if it tastes dull and flabby, not enough. If a good, healthy sniff singes your nostrils and the wine burns on your palate, the alcohol is out of balance and the wine is .hot.. But the discussion is more than a description of negative attributes. With the four elements in harmony, the wine maintains balance and often displays an undercurrent of energy that stimulates the palate. An oenological umami, if you will. Balance is inherently subjective. We can.t measure it by the alcohol level, pH and total acidity, even if all that information is on the label. I might feel a wine is balanced delicately on the tip of a corkscrew, while you might find it clumsy. Our sense of balance reflects our preferences in wine styles. And that.s why .balance. is a code word. Its adherents are reacting against a style of wine that has become popular and even dominant over the past two decades, especially in California wine. The style emphasizes lush fruit (.fruit-forward.), power and body (high alcohol) and opulence (lavish oak, increasing a wine.s tannins). It is frequently blamed on wine writers who give high point scores to such wines, but it.s not that simple. Changing viticultural practices played a role, as did an emphasis on .physiological ripeness. of grapes, the idea that ripeness and the all-important question of when to harvest depend not simply on sugar levels but also on the color of the seeds and the suppleness of the skin. That led vintners to delay harvest for additional .hang time. on the vine, and as a result, sugar . and alcohol . levels increased. Besides, Americans like big, sweet drinks. The new emphasis on balance is an attempt to ratchet back some of those characteristics, especially alcohol levels, and produce wines with a more classic flavor profile. The pendulum of style is swinging back their way, creating an equilibrium of flavor. I certainly welcome that, as California pinot noir has unfortunately followed the path merlot trod before it: wild acceptance followed by overproduced, manipulated, clumsy wines. It.s time to restore balance. California pinot noir recommendations McIntyre blogs at www.dmwineline. com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine. Recommended Sonoma Coast wines By . D.M., Published: April 17 Pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast is almost always expensive and hard to find. Most of these wines are sold primarily to restaurants; they are worth searching and splurging for when dining out, as examples of what this California region can accomplish with pinot noir. Recommendations ...Exceptional ...Excellent..Very Good Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor. Hirsch Vineyards .San Andreas. Pinot Noir 2009 ... Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, Calif., $65 Winebow in the District, J.W. Sieg in Virginia and Maryland: Available in the District at Ace Beverage; on the list at Adour, Bourbon Steak, Brasserie Beck, Charlie Palmer Steak, Citronelle, CityZen, Equinox, Proof, Rasika, the Source. Available in Maryland at Finewine.com in Gaithersburg; on the list at Volt in Frederick, Wit & Wisdom in Baltimore. Available in Virginia at Arrowine in Arlington, J. Emerson Fine Wines & Cheese in Richmond, Oakton Wine Shop, Out of Site Wines in Vienna, the Vineyard in McLean, Vino Market in Midlothian; on the list at the Ashby Inn in Paris, Brabo and Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Wild Ginger in Midlothian. Flowers .Andreen-Gale. Pinot Noir 2007 ... Sonoma Coast, $65 Spicier and more voluptuous than the Hirsch (a factor of age perhaps), this cuvee from Flowers was made totally from grapes grown in its estate vineyards in what is now the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. In subsequent vintages, the winery has focused on single-vineyard bottlings. Republic National: Available in the District at Dean & DeLuca, Paul.s of Chevy Chase. La Follette .Sangiacomo Vineyard. Pinot Noir 2009 ... Sonoma Coast, $45 Here.s a beauty from the Sangiacomo Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap area. (The Sangiacomo family is well known in Sonoma County and has a larger vineyard in Carneros.) Other bottlings to look for include Manchester Ridge, which is in Mendocino County but shares characteristics with the extreme Sonoma Coast, and DuNah Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Elite: Available in the District at Cork & Fork, Dean & Deluca, MacArthur Beverages; on the list at 1789. Available in Maryland at Crush Winehouse in Annapolis; on the list at Volt in Frederick. Available in Virginia at Arrowine in Arlington; on the list at 2941 in Falls Church. Sojourn Pinot Noir 2009 ..1 / 2 Sonoma Coast, $42 This wine hails primarily from the lower Sonoma Coast, in the Petaluma Gap area. It features darker fruit flavors (blackberry instead of raspberry and cranberry) and more foresty earth than the stony minerality from the northern coastal vineyards. Bacchus: Available in the District at Dean & DeLuca, Paul.s of Chevy Chase; on the list at Proof. Available in Maryland at Corridor Wine & Spirits in Laurel, Montgomery County Liquor Store in Potomac. Recommendations Published: April 24 Recommendations ...Exceptional ...Excellent..Very Good Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor. Here are some California pinot noirs that embody the spirit of In Pursuit of Balance. Not all of these wineries are members of the group; these are my selections of wines available around Washington that embody the spirit of the movement toward elegance and balance. Copain Wines .Tous Ensemble. Pinot Noir 2009 ... Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, Calif., $30 Winemaker Wells Guthrie has become a poster child of elegance and restraint in pinot noir. He crafts wines that say a lot without shouting, including this delightful pinot. J.W. Sieg: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley; on the list at Art & Soul, BLT Steak, Bourbon Steak, Jack Rose. Available in Maryland at Wine Source in Baltimore; on the list at Volt in Frederick. Available in Virginia at Aldie Peddler, Grape + Bean in Alexandria, Market Street Wineshop in Charlottesville, Salute! Wine Market in Winchester; on the list at Ray.s: the Steaks in Arlington. Cobb Wines .Emmaline Ann Vineyard. Pinot Noir 2008 ... Sonoma Coast, Calif., $73 Only 370 cases of this pinot were produced. Rich with dark fruit flavors, it packs a lot of flavor for a wine that clocks in at a modest 13.1 percent alcohol in an age when many pinots are more than 14.5 percent. Ross Cobb is also the winemaker at Hirsch Vineyards, and has made wine at Flowers, so he knows the Sonoma Coast region. Potomac Selections: Available in the District at Cork & Fork; on the list at Bourbon Steak. In Maryland, on the list at Volt in Frederick. Domaine Eden Pinot Noir 2009 ..1 / 2 Santa Cruz Mountains, Calif., $35 Sleek and lively, this wine doesn.t want to quit with its berry and cherry flavors and an undercurrent of earth, nicely balanced at 13.5 percent alcohol. Constantine: Available in the District at Georgetown Wine & Spirits; on the list at BLT Steak. Available in Maryland at Wells Discount Liquors in Baltimore; on the list at 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring, Ruth.s Chris Steakhouse in Pikesville, Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City. Ojai Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009 ..1 / 2 Santa Barbara County, Calif., $33 Adam Tolmach.s wines are distressingly hard to find, and I say that because they are so consistently good. His 2009 Santa Barbara County pinot noir hails mostly from the Santa Maria Valley, including some fruit from the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard. This is aromatic with dark fruit scents and flavors (blackberry) and an appealing savory herbal note to give it complexity. Country Vintner: Available in the District at Local Vine Cellar. Available in Virginia at Arrowine in Arlington. Castle Rock Winery .California Cuvee. Pinot Noir 2009 .1 / 2 California, $13 Castle Rock wines are not in the same league with the others in the In Pursuit of Balance movement because they are not small-production, terroir-driven wines. However, this California Cuvee has three advantages: it is easier to find, it is affordable, and, at 13.6 percent, it is modest in alcohol . a trait it shares with its elevated counterparts. Nothing deep here, just plain, tasty pinot. Winebow in the District, LVDH Vignobles in Maryland, Robins Cellars in Virginia: Available in the District at Ace Beverage, Bell Wine & Spirits, Boston Wine & Spirits, Cairo Wine & Liquor; Capitol Fine Wines & Spirits, Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, D.Vines, De Vinos, Lion.s Fine Wine & Spirits, Magruder.s, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, Paul.s of Chevy Chase, Pearson.s, Rodman.s, S&R Liquors, Safeway locations on L Street and MacArthur Boulevard, Van Ness Wine and Liquors, Wine Specialist. Available in Maryland at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits, Bin 201 Wine Sellers, Mills Fine Wine and Spirits, and Wine Cellars in Annapolis; Bin 604 Wine Sellers, Wells Discount Liquors and Wine Source in Baltimore; Montgomery Plaza Liquors in Catonsville; Decanter Fine Wines in Columbia; Mt. Airy Liquors; Pine Orchard Wine in Ellicott City; State Line Liquors in Elkton; Ye Old Spirit Shop in Frederick. Available in Virginia at the Aldie Peddler, Arrowine and Westover Market in Arlington, Total Wine & More locations in Chantilly and McLean, Whole Foods Market in Falls Church and Vienna, Wine Cabinet in Reston; on the list at American Cafe in Herndon, Extra Virgin and Portabellos in Arlington, Union Street Public House in Alexandria. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *