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It’s that time again, the first release of a new vintage, the 2010. Again, we are continuing our Sonoma County program and this time we are releasing the Chardonnay along with the Pinot Noir. And once again, not only is it priced as an everyday drinking wine but it’s also an opportunity to take a look at the vintage before we release our appellation Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley and single vineyard wines.

The 2010 vintage in the north coast is an interesting one, so for the lack of anything better to talk about it gives me a chance to rant about vintage dating. But understand this is not an indictment on this vintage. I’m sure you will hear just about everything you can possibly hear about 2010 as a vintage in the north coast of California, from light and thin to way overripe. And you know what they say about opinions and opinions about wine vintages are no different, everybody has one. And of course there is always the media, they love making blanket statements about vintages. Vintages have importance when purchasing a wine but probably too much importance has been put on them. A wise old retailer who has tasted a lot more wine than I reflecting on bottle variance once said there are no great wines only great bottles. On the other side of the coin the same might be said for vintages; there are no bad vintages only bad vineyards. This is even more profound in California where we get better weather than in Burgundy. There are exceptions to this of course, such as 1989 but these are very few and far between.

The growing season for 2010 started with a wet spring and cool summer which we seem to have been getting more of lately and it appeared as though we wouldn’t get ripe fruit. Then we had some heat in fact a lot of heat and in fact twice. So needless to say the fruit got ripe. But then the weather turned mild, perfect for just hanging out for flavor development. However, for west county Pinot Noir if one picked before the heat, especially the first heat they received underripe fruit which most likely made light, thin wines and there were many of those who did. But if one waited and worked with conscience growers i.e. those who were proactive with watering, willing to drop/sort fruit, waiting to vigorously pull leaves to open the canopy until rain is on the horizon or towards the end of the season when heat is not an issue, there was no further damage from heat so one was rewarded with flavorful fruit. Similarly in 2011 the same decision had to be made not for heat but for rain (but more on that next year). I realize that the trend these days is less ripe and more elegance and I’m one to agree California wines have become too ripe, however a craftsman can’t make a good product without the proper materials. So it all comes down to picking decisions and how well adversity is handled in the vineyard and in the winery. Critical is courage to wait and not pull the picking trigger prematurely. Essential are growers who are willing to do the things necessary for consistency, things that are difficult and time consuming during the busy harvest but necessary to deliver consistent quality fruit. And then attention to detail in the winery during harvest and finally having no fear of economic repercussions by declassifying or moving wines down to a lower tier to insure the quality vis-a-vis price point or not even bottling particular lots at all. We employ this important tool every year, even in the best of years such as 2005, 2007 and 2009, three of the best vintages in this new millennium.

An interesting observation about ‘vintages’ is as you may not know I’m a fan of Burgundy (which is actually how I got started making Pinot Noir) I was talking with someone at our last open house and mentioned a Burgundy I had just had, one of the two mentioned below, from the 2004 vintage from the Cote de Nuit and this person’s first reaction was any wine from that vintage can’t be very good because the vintage wasn’t good. It’s that kind of blanket statement that has people missing out on a lot of good wine. I realize that the dogged pursuit of tasting all wines from all vintages is expensive and time consuming and that is where trust in the producer is important in selecting a wine. When choosing a Burgundy, as with a California Pinot Noir, the most important thing is the producer and the vineyard. Two cases in point, two of the most wonderful Burgundys I have ever had are; a 2004 Lavaux St. Jacques by Dennis Mortet and a 2004 from Vosne Romanee Aux Brulees by Meo-Camuzet, both Premier Crus, excellent vineyards (the Lavaux St. Jacques is considered by many to be of Grand Cru quality). And both producers in my opinion are two of the best. We like to think of ourselves as the Mortet and Meo-Camuzet of North Coast Pinot Noir and the vineyards we work with to be of grand/premier cru quality.

So the take home message is when you are selecting a bottle of wine choose a reputable brand and vineyard first and vintage date after that. And you can and most likely will be rewarded with a jewel.

Hunter

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