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PINOT.RG
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THE WINE TASTER
By Robin Garr
The Courier-Journal, Feb. 22, 1989
It's hard to learn much about French Burgundy in this region -- and for
that matter, anywhere outside of the largest cities -- even if you're rich
but especially if you're not: Selections are extremely limited, and the wines
that are available are very expensive.
It's a simple question of supply and demand: The gentle, sloping hills
most favored for wine production in the Burgundy region produce at most 13
million cases of red and white wine a year, compared with 62 million cases
from Bordeaux and, to stretch the point, 200 million cases from
California.
Much of the fine Burgundy that reaches this country gets no farther
inland than the East and West coasts, where it is snapped up by well-to-do
connoisseurs.
Some turns up on Louisville-area retailers' shelves, of course, but the
selection is generally a mixed bag of "off" vintages, unknown labels and a
few very expensive treasures.
About all you can do, when you spot a Burgundian bargain from time to
time is grab it, try it and see what it's like.
Meanwhile, let's be thankful that grape growers and wine makers in
California, and lately Oregon, have finally started finding success in their
long-running efforts to produce "Burgundian" wine from the persnickety Pinot
Noir grape.
The red grape of Burgundy (actually, it's so dark blue it almost looks
black) has challenged wine makers outside France for generations.
For centuries in Burgundy, Pinot Noir has made an aromatic, age-worthy
wine with a rich texture as soft as velvet. As recently as the late 1970s and
early 1980s, however, most wine makers in this country generally could coax
from the grape only a thin, tart wine, light in color and flavor.
They kept trying though, lured by the dream of producing a beverage to
match, if not exactly to mimic, one of the world's best red wines.
Some, like California wine maker Josh Jensen, of Calera Wine Co.,
sought soils resembling Burgundy and tried exactly to duplicate the
Burgundian wine-making secrets. Others looked to Oregon for its cool summers
and freezing winters, a climate more closely resembling the French region.
And then, almost suddenly it seemed, a few Pinot Noirs from California
mountainsides and Oregonian fields started winning critical acclaim.
Excellent Pinot Noirs started appearing not only from Oregon but
speckling the map of California, mostly in cooler regions from the ranch
country of Edna Valley and San Luis Obispo through the windswept Central
Coast to the Carneros district of southern Napa and Sonoma counties.
There are still winners and losers -- the same, of course, is true of
Burgundy; but one thing is sure as the '80s near their end: American Pinot
Noir no longer can be presumed second-rate.
Here's my report on eight recently tasted Pinot Noirs, including a
couple of inexpensive French Burgundies, plus one "ringer" -- a first-rate
Morgon from Beaujolais, a deliciously fruity cousin of Burgundy made not from
Pinot Noir but the Gamay grape.
(4 1/2 stars) Edna Valley Vineyard Edna Valley Pinot Noir, 1984. (Pee-no
Nwahr.) This clear, light ruby-red wine has a delicious aroma of cherries,
with a delicate vanilla overtone; after "breathing" in the glass it adds
subtle leathery and earthy scents. Its ripe, intensely fruity flavor is
backed with crisp acidity, and its full-bodied quality illustrates the prized
Pinot Noir texture that can only be described as "velvety." ($11.79)
(4 stars) Jean Descombes Morgon, 1986. (Mor-gawn.) This clear, bright
ruby-red wine (not a Burgundy but a Grand Cru Beaujolais) is almost
Burgundian in its appetizing scent of berries and cherries. Its delicious
flavor is soft, fruity and light, with crisp but not overly tart acidity;
it's like eating a bowl of juicy wine grapes. ($5)
(3 1/2 stars) Saintsbury Carneros "Garnet" Pinot Noir, 1987. This clear,
light ruby-red wine has an appetizing floral scent with spicy hints of
cinnamon and cloves. Sharp acidity tempers the softness of fresh fruit in its
flavor, and the spicy tastes linger in a good, simple Pinot Noir. ($9.49)
(3 1/2 stars) Jaboulet-Vercherre "Tastevineage" Bourgogne Pinot Noir, 1985.
This clear, bright garnet-colored wine adds a touch of wild cherry and floral
overtones to its perfumed aroma. Its soft ripe-fruit flavor is so lush that
it almost seems sweet, but it is balanced by properly tart acidity. It's an
exceptional French Burgundy from an outstanding vintage and a rarity for its
reasonable price. ($5.99)
(3 stars) Gundlach-Bundschu Rhinefarm Vineyards Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir,
1986. This clear, bright-garnet wine has a marked cherrylike aroma with a
touch of vanilla from oak aging. It mingles ripe fruit and sharp acidity in a
flavor that's mouth-filling but ultimately simple for a Pinot Noir.
($9.39)
(3 stars) F. Chauvenet Fixin, 1983. (Feec-san.) This clear, light-red
wine has a pleasantly perfumed scent of cherries. Tart acidity and simple
fruit mingle in an earthy, slightly tannic flavor, with a Sherry-like hint of
oxidation to warn that this wine is not fit for further aging. ($7.99)
(2 1/2 stars) Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir, 1987. The luscious
wildflower aroma of this clear, light strawberry-colored wine holds such high
promise that its soft, simple, slightly sweet flavor is almost a
disappointment. Short on the acidity needed to mesh with food, it's OK for
quaffing but resembles a Beaujolais more than a Burgundy. ($6.69)
(2 stars) Trefethen Vineyards Napa Valley Pinot Noir, 1984. This is a clear,
bright ruby-red wine with an earthy, almost musty quality cloaking simple,
perfumed fruit. Its flavor balances tart acidity and ample fruit, but the
musty quality -- perhaps the sign of a bad cork -- carries over as a flaw, as
does a sense of heat and roughness in the aftertaste. ($8.99)
(2 stars) Calera Los Alamos Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir, 1985.
Calera's bottom-of-the-line label is a far cry from its pricey Selleck,
Jensen and Reed bottlings, alas. The strongly vegetal flavors of grape stems
in the fermenting tank (a Burgundian tradition that misfired here) impart a
"barnyardy" aroma and flavor that's a serious, if not-quite-fatal, flaw in
this bright cherry-red wine. ($11.99)
"The Wine Taster" appears every other Wednesday in The Louisville
Courier-Journal Food Section. Wine and Food Critic Robin Garr rates table
wines available in the Louisville area, using a one- to five-star scale
determined by quality and value. Send suggestions or questions in care of The
Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40202, call (502) 582-4647,
or leave a message for 73125,70.