I attended an event the other night hosted by one of our local public radio stations, KAZU, and one of my favorite culinary celebrities – Lynne Rosetto Kasper — at Mary Pagan’s Culinary Center of Monterey. The food was prepared by Mary Pagan’s students and was delicious and well-conceived (as usual), and the folks who attended were a delight. Someone asked me the question of “How do I find Pinots that I like?” Good question.

These days, the field of Pinot Noir can be truly daunting and amazing at the same time [how does one pick one off a store shelf?]. Within only a decade, the Pinot Noir winemaking industry has undergone an incredible change — new folks have entered the industry, new vineyards, clones, rootstocks have been planted on new sites all over the state, new wineries and labels have popped up like Google ads, and [most importantly] a gamut of styles of Pinot Noir has developed. The range of Pinot Noir, as I see it starts on one end with a typically “light” style: light in color and weight. These wines are usually very aromatic with these aromas: cherries, strawberries, rhubarb, roses, spices. These wines will often be described as “elegant”. Then there are the middle weights. These have a darker hue — ruby to garnet and usually display darker fruit character — blackberry, black cherry, plums. These usually display a medium-weight, greater texture and nice finish. These might have a little more extracted tannin. Then there are the heavy weights. Plums, black currants, blueberries are the fruits, and many of these wines might display tobacco, cigar, coffee characters as well. These are “big” wines and are normally heavily-extracted and might have been aged in a high-percentage of new oak as well. Dark, deep , rich are some of the descriptors used.

The ongoing debate regarding Pinot Noir in the wine industry these days is about what style is “true” to Pinot’s nature? How much influence does/should a winemaker have on a wine vs. the effects of the growing conditions and vineyard site? What style of Pinot Noir is appropriate for the marketplace?
The way I see it, live and let live. I don’t personally prefer all styles of Pinot Noir, but there are those who do. There is basically a style of Pinot Noir for almost every wine drinker out there — whether it is the entry level wine consumer, an experienced wine aficionado, someone who normally prefers whites, or a consumer that would usually choose Cabernet and thank goodness for that. The vibrancy of our industry depends upon the varied tastes of our customers because nowadays there’s as many different wines out there as there are clouds in the sky or cowboys in a cattle drive. That’s why it’s so easy to get lassoed by Pinot Noir…..[heck, I'm not only lassoed, I've been hog-tied and branded, too....yippee aye yea ]

So, getting back to answering the question — “How do I find a Pinot I like?” Here’s some advice: 1. Try a lot of Pinot Noir. Join a tasting group or create one yourself. These groups allow one to try a wide variety of wines without gutting one’s pocketbook. 2. Talk to the folks at the winery; find out what their philosophy and preferences are. If they match yours, then you just might like the wines. 3. Investigate wine critics. There are the usual suspects in print, but there are also many folks online who are reviewing wine offering more variety of opinions. Look at what they like. If they like similar wines to those you enjoy, it might be worth your while to seek out their recommendations. 4. I’ve said this before, but will say it again: trust your palate. It’s not a good wine unless you like it, and that’s all that counts.

Well, I’ve had a crazy few weeks. March is usually a busy time pouring at events and visiting accounts. We’ve also spent a good deal of time preparing to bottle Sauvignon Blanc and finally doing it now. Then came April and my husband, son and I bought a house and have been dealing with moving and then moving again (long story). I also attended a short cheesemaking course…..Here’s a recap of all that is happened as I have been remiss in posting.

Say Cheese, and then some…..

I attended a cheesemaking course at Cal Poly at the beginning of this month. Learned a lot and had a great time, too (That had a lot to do with the company I was keeping, I’ll have you know– all good fun). I went down there with Marta Kraftzeck (longtime winemaker/viticulturist at Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley), Terry Teplitzky (owner/chef of Michael’s Catering and Wild Thyme Deli here in Marina), and Tony Baker (chef of Montrio Bistro in Monterey). Photos in order: Terry is cutting the cheese (Feta, that is); Tony is making real cream cheese, here I am doing really Gouda, Marta is testing the Mozzarella curd, and last is the whole cheese gang together…..hmmmm

So what’s cheese got to do with wine, you might ask? A lot, actually, and more than I had even realized. It was clearly stated to us by one instructor that cheesemaking is not a natural process. Milk was meant to be consumed the minute it is produced; nature did not mean for it to be stored or made into cheese. Although not such an extreme example, it occurred to me that grapes are the same way: grapes originated as the fruiting body of a wild grapevine that “wanted” it’s fruit to be eaten by birds or animals so that it’s seeds are carried away and planted elsewhere. Maybe we all need to be reminded of this sometimes: the original intention wasn’t to make people drunk or create a multi-billion dollar industry. [So -- there's a little something to dampen one's hubris -- hee hee]

Another commonality: Both cheese and wine are fermented products — cheese is usually cultured with some kind of bacteria and/or mold (molds are fungis and in the same family as yeasts & mushrooms). The primary fermentation in wine is accomplished by yeast (that’s the alcoholic fermentation); the secondary fermentation (which happens in most wines) is produced by bacteria (malo-lactic fermentation) that converts malic acid into the less-acidic lactic acid.

I could go on in this “vein”, although it doesn’t make me “bleu” (sorry I’m in a cheesy mood today)….I’ve always been greatly interested in making (and eating) cheese, and certainly this course opened a door into other world for me, and it unexpectedly added other facets and “levels” to my ever-evolving winemaking philosophies, too, and that I always welcome. Neither wine nor cheese may be a product that nature intended, but natural laws nonetheless shape each, and this was another opportunity for me to renew my appreciation of that concept.

….and then there was Sauvignon Blanc

I may be solidly in the arms of Pinot Noir, but I will always have eyes for Sauvignon Blanc. I’m admitting it here. Call me easy — maybe — but I truly appreciate all styles of S.B. from all regions of the world (can’t say the same for all P.N…..). We are bottling ours now, finally. This year’s (2007, that is) gave me a little hassle as it never wanted to clean up completely (unlike last year’s offering), so had to resort to the filter (which isn’t as bad as it sounds — and can be good for a wine). I really liked last year’s, but some thought it too acidic, so for 2007, I’m moving very slightly toward a “Napa style” — a portion of this was picked just a tad riper, and I barrel-aged 50% in old barrels to soften it and add a little more complexity. The barrel-aged portion may have gone through a little malolactic fermentation, but mostly the original acid component is retained. This will be released in a few weeks out of necessity, but methinks it should open up and show it’s true character sometime this summer…..

Events

Doug will pour at the MCVGA tasting at La Playa in Carmel on Tuesday, April 22.

Doug and/or I will provide wine for KAZU’s Salon Series dinner with Lynn Rosetto Kasper on Thursday, April 24 (looking forward to this as she is one of my favorite radio & food personalities)…

Out and About

Dean & DeLuca in St. Helena is selling our 2005 Tondre Pinot Noir. I visited with Spencer Chaffey (spencer.chaffey@deananddeluca.com) over there the other day and had a nice conversation with him…..

Napa Valley Wine Exchange: Speaking of Sauvignon Blanc, check out what they have to say about our 2006….. and our 2005 Tondre Pinot.