The Pinot Party
It’s Pinot Noir from all over! From Oregon to France, from Germany to California, taste 4 different flavors of Pinot Noir.
Violet Hill Pinot Noir
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Place: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Process: Fermented with native yeasts in small batch fermentations, the wine is a representation of the of the people and places that farm and vinify it.
Family: Farmed in an expansive and well sheltered valley along the Rogue River and its tributaries; the Rogue AVA is bordered by the Cascade Mountains to the east, the Siskiyou Mountains to the north, and the Southern Oregon Coast Range to the West. The AVA is mostly made up of high elevation sites in mountain country. Despite the ruggedness of the region, the weather is quite mild and warm in the summers making for concentrated and ripe fruit profiles.
Bottle: $27 | Glass: $12
Eric Louis Pinot Noir
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Place: Sancerre, France
Process: Once the grapes have been picked, they are inspected and destemmed to remove any stems or any berries that are spoilt. Then, the pinot noir is conveyed to stainless steel tanks for a cold skin maceration. The vatting time is short to maximize the fruit and to obtain an easy drinking wine. Then, the juice undergoes an alcoholic fermentation during 2-3 weeks at a controlled temperature of between 18°C to 25°C. After devatting and blending pressed juice and free-run juice, the wine rests in stainless steel tanks until the bottling is done at springtime.
Family: Eric Louis Estate produces white, red and rosé wines whose terroir is highlighted thanks to the management of our vineyard in organic farming. The magic will also operate in the cellar where modernity and authenticity come together for the best…
“We seek the ideal level of grape maturity to guarantee an aromatic maturity and a balanced wine. Even if the analyses are thorough, nothing will replace the human palate; it is the most reliable judge of the development and quality of a great wine. We have chosen the vinification without sulphite using the biocontrol of the fresh harvest until the end of the alcoholic fermentation. During aging in thermoregulated stainless steel vats, wine is kept in a protective nitrogen atmosphere, preventing any alteration or bacterial development with minimal use of sulphur. This inertia is maintained until bottling. Therefore, our wines contain a low dose of sulphur (total SO2) as biodynamic wines (Demeter certified).”
Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11
Koehler Ruprecht Pinot Noir
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Place: Pfalz, Germany
Process: The grapes were handpicked, destemmed and fermented in stainless steel.
Family: This historic estate, long managed by the legendary and larger-than-life Bernd Philippi, was purchased in 2009 and since 2011 has been in the dedicated hands of Dominik Sona. He and his cellar master Franziska Schmitt are intensely hard-working and strictly honor the arch-traditional style of this beautiful, centuries-old cellar. Koehler-Ruprecht is known for broad, rich and minerally Rieslings, Pinots and Chardonnays sourced from three locations in Kallstadt.
All wines are spontaneously fermented on their own yeasts and aged entirely in large, neutral stück (1200L oval casks) and halbstück (600L). No chaptalization, no enzymes, and no manipulations of any kind are practiced here. These are extremely old-school wines from an estate making trocken (dry) wines before it was trendy. In fact, the estate cleaves to the old labeling practice of putting both the pradikät and the trocken designation on each wine (e.g., Auslese Trocken), which the VDP no longer allows; it was one reason they left the consortium after 80 years of membership! Koehler-Ruprecht’s wines are released conspicuously late and are best enjoyed with bottle age, particularly the “R” reserve wines. It is safe to say there are no other wines like these made in Germany—or anywhere.
Bottle: $31 | Glass: $14
Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Place: Santa Barbara County, California
Process: Manual harvest. Stainless steel fermentation in temperature controlled vats. The wine ages in 10% new François Frères French oak barrels for 10 months.
Family: Beginning with the 1978 harvest, Jim Clendenen was assistant winemaker at Zaca Mesa Winery for three vintages, a valued training experience. In 1981 his vision broadened with three harvests in one year as Jim worked crush and directed the harvest at wineries in Australia and France. Three harvests in one year confirmed his masochistic tendencies.In 1982, Clendenen decided, along with Adam Tolmach, to start a winery dedicated to Burgundian varietals. Adam left in 1990 to pursue his own efforts leaving Jim solo at the helm.
Au Bon Climat (which means “a well exposed vineyard”) sources fruit from several of the most highly regarded vineyards in the Central Coast. These include Clendenen’s own Le Bon Climat Vineyard and estate plantings at the legendary Bien Nacido Vineyard – both in Santa Maria Valley, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills, Los Alamos Vineyard (Santa Barbara County), and San Luis Obispo County’s Talley Vineyard.The winery has cultivated an international reputation for its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Jim Clendenen, the “Mind Behind” Au Bon Climat, is recognized worldwide for his classically styled wines.
Bottle: $29 | Glass: $13