WineInk: Pinot Noir redux

Statistics and sales figures show that Cabernet Sauvignon is the wine most favored by the American consumer.

And while I often adhere to the old refrain “lies, damn lies, and statistics” as uttered first by Mark Twain, I have no reason to quarrel with the numbers. Having said that, my anecdotal evidence in a thousand conversations, and more, with wine drinkers, is that the most popular red variety is surely Pinot Noir. Especially amongst wine folk here in the Roaring Fork Valley.

This upcoming Thursday at Free Range Kitchen in Basalt, a half-dozen Pinot Noir producers who go by the name the Pinot Posse will pour their wines at a special wine dinner. Last week’s column outlined the details of the Posse’s 19^th ride and their annual January events in Colorado. This week, I wanted to capture the winemakers’ passion for Pinot Noir and some of the details of their journeys with the grape by having them share a few words.

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“Pinot Noir is matriarchal in its royalty,” said Dan Kosta of DK wines, who has been mining the vines of Sonoma County and producing gems since he and his former partner, Michael Browne, founded Kosta Browne Winery in 1997. “There is elegance, yet complexity, beyond that of the other noble grapes. It’s this diversity that makes it both a wonderful everyday wine while at the same time offering an experience that adds to any momentous occasion. It represents all that is balanced, regal, understated, refined, and hopeful in the world.”

A pretty good description of why he is obsessed by the opportunity to make and sell his Pinot Noir wines that he branded Convene as a way to share his passion with others.

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A little further south in the California Pinot belt, Bingo Foxen plies his trade in the vineyards of  Santa Barbara County. This will be Foxen’s first visit to Free Range Kitchen, and he will be bringing a wine from a special block in the famed Bien Nacido vineyards. His relationship with the grape goes back to his teens.

“Pinot Noir holds a special place in my heart for nostalgic reasons,” he explained. “Growing up when I did, where I did (on the Central Coast), there were some very good things being done with Pinot Noir. When I was first getting into wine in my late teens and early twenties, Pinot Noir was what we were drinking. Not just because it was around in abundance but because, for many people, it was special, elegant, and unique. Many other wines bring me joy, but when I taste a good Pinot Noir it always brings me back to those early days.”

Ed Kurtzman, who has made wines under his own August West and Sandler labels as well as for several others up and down the California Coast, also has a history with the Bien Nacido vineyards. He reminisces with rapture.

“My first Pinot epiphanies involved Bien Nacido Pinot Noir. In 1994, my first commercial harvest, I was a cellar worker at Bernardus,” he said. “One day, our winemaker, Don Blackburn, told everyone to bring a swimsuit the next day. That was when our Bien Nacido Pinot Noir was being harvested and delivered to the winery in Carmel Valley.  Don had us get in our swimsuits, wash off our feet and legs, and climb in the tank of Pinot. He introduced us to the Burgundian technique of ‘Pigéage,’ a punch down using one’s feet and legs instead of a punch-down tool. It was practically a religious experience, stomping around in that five-ton tank with three of my colleagues. I had no idea at that time I’d still be making Bien Nacido Pinot Noir today, 30 years later.”

For many of those years, Kurtzman has brought along epic bottlings from Graham Vineyard in Sonoma to the Pinot Posse dinners. This year, he will continue the tradition, though the wine has not seen the aforementioned “human pigéage.”

While five winemakers on the Posse will be bringing still interpretations of Pinot Noir, Patton Penhallgon Sea Smoke’s director of wholesale and brand ambassador will be pouring the latest vintage of Sea Smoke’s “Sea Spray,” a sparkling wine made with 100% Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills appellation.

“Few red varieties can express elegance and balance in the way that Pinot Noir does, and fewer still can express the distinct character of a unique site like Sea Smoke,” he said. “Every grape is different to make and takes different approaches to reveal a beautiful wine. Pinot Noir, however, is the most transparent grape, in my opinion, and can reveal the region, vineyard, and winemakers’ strengths and weaknesses like no other grape.”

In Oregon, the Willamette Valley is the “Burgundy of the Northwest.” Here, producers and consumers celebrate the beauty of the Pinot Noir grape with near religious fervor. They also tout the ability of the region, with its varied soils and cooling climate, to be the perfect place to grow the grape. The region is, in wine terms, still in its infancy with the first grapes having been planted in just in the late 1960s, but there are now nearly 1,000 bonded wineries in Oregon.

Two vintners from the Willamette Valley – one new to the Posse and the other who has been a part of each of the nineteen-year journey – will be pouring their wines at the dinner at Free Range Kitchen. They celebrate the source of their grapes and the Oregon terroir.

“Pinot Noir has been a part of my life since I was a young boy,” said Morgan Broadley, who will be making his Roaring Fork Valley debut bringing wines from his family’s Broadley Vineyards. “Frankly, most winemakers start with working with quality vineyards. I try to be thoughtful with each vintage – working with what each vintage gives you. For the most part, I take a hands-off approach with my wines, I try to let the wines express themselves rather than me imprinting on my wines.”

The vet, J.K. Carriere owner/winemaker Jim Prosser, describes his wines as “high acid for food and built to age.”

He continued: “Pinot Noir is a grape that gets confused as fragile, it’s not. But its transparent frame can be quite finicky to master. One can’t hide anything, so making it in small lots, with a judicious hand and an eye towards ultimate balance is the best chance to reveal subtlety, elegance, and terroir.”

In honor of his tenure, we will let Prosser have the last word: “Done well, Pinot Noir can be the most elegant and sophisticated combination of power and grace found in wine.”

Dinner is served.