23rd
Pinot Noir: California v. Oregon
If one more person tells me how great some $100 California Pinot Noir is, I’m going to hit the roof. Let’s look at wine growing from a Mother-Nature stand point. Looking at the planet Earth, there are certain places, more specifically, certain latitudes that are better than others for growing certain grapes.
Burgundy, for all its inconsistencies, is still the King (or Queen) of Pinot Noir. It’s hard to like Burgundy as the Pinot Noirs coming out of there are all over the board. Many times their Pinots are stringent and austere. But when you get a good one, and I mean the best Pinot from the best vineyard, you LOVE it and need to have a cigarette, even if you don’t smoke! Burgundy at its best can produce the best wines in the world for a number of reasons.
I’m inclined to think one of those reasons is because Burgundy is located halfway between the Equator, and the North Pole. Weather conditions, average temps, etc.. all contribute to giving those Pinot Noir vines exactly what they want. In other words, ideal terroir.
Oregon happens to be along the same parallel as Burgundy, which means similar ideal growing conditions. The fruit produced in Oregon is different than the fruit produced in California. Cali can’t be all things to all people. That’s not to say there aren’t pockets in California that can’t produce good fruit. After the grapes leave the vineyard, it’s up to the winemaker to decide if the wine is going to be a natural expression of the fruit or if they are going to overly manipulate.
Thankfully, many of the Pinot Noirs listed on Culination represent excellent winemaking skills where the wine maker listened to the fruit and listened to the vineyard. These aren’t overly produced wines, but rather a thoughtful dance with nature respectfully receiving grapes and leading them through the winemaking process without changing course.
Of course, this conversation makes sense when you are talking about the Northern Hemisphere, but when you talk about the Southern Hemisphere, you have a whole different ball game. Chile and New Zealand, you’re on deck!
Cheers
