Santa Barbara Winemakers Road Trip: Pinot Noir
Day Two of the Santa Barbara Vintners Road Trip Los Angeles focused on the elusive Pinot Noir. Ethereal, sensual, or brooding, Pinot Noir, more than any other wine grape, reflects where it is grown. For winemakers, it’s not just the soils, climate or weather, it’s the number of clones that shape the wines they make. The Pinot Noir seminar, moderated by acclaimed wine writer Elaine Chukan-Brown, explored six Pinots from Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, with five winemakers joining the discussion. Steve Clifton of La Voix, Blair Fox of Fess Parker, Richard Sanford of Alma Rosa, Trey Fletcher of Solomon Hills, and Ryan Pace of Nielson, mused about their adventures in Pinot Noir, and how their wines have condensed the very special place of Santa Barbara County.
Day Two of the Santa Barbara Vintners Road Trip Los Angeles focused on the elusive Pinot Noir. Ethereal, sensual, or brooding, Pinot Noir, more than any other wine grape, reflects where it is grown. For winemakers, it’s not just the soils, climate or weather, it’s the number of clones that shape the wines they make. The Pinot Noir seminar, moderated by acclaimed wine writer Elaine Chukan-Brown, explored six Pinots from Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, with five winemakers joining the discussion. Steve Clifton of La Voix, Blair Fox of Fess Parker, Richard Sanford of Alma Rosa, Trey Fletcher of Solomon Hills, and Ryan Pace of Nielson, mused about their adventures in Pinot Noir, and how their wines have condensed the very special place of Santa Barbara County.
(L-R) Richard Sanford, Elaine Chukan-Brown, Trey Fletcher, Blair Fox, Steve Clifton, Ryan Pace
Chukan-Brown set the stage, with geology the driving force of soils and climate. She noted that the sharp elbow of California at Point Concepcion reveals the ancient foundation of today’s spectacular wine country. Instead of the norm of mountain ranges running north to south, Santa Barbara County has east-west hills, a result of tectonic plates crashing into each other. What she called the “nook effect”, the collision of warm and cold ocean currents brings a huge maritime influence to these valleys, funneling cool Pacific breezes across the region. In addition to cold winds, nightly fog blankets the grapes, moderating temperatures while developing acidity, aromas, and flavors. The vineyard soils originate from the deep ocean; limestone, sand, and diatomaceous earth, which are great for wine grapes. This is the only place in the North American continent where these phenomena come together, making this a truly unique cradle for the finicky Pinot Noir.
For Pinot Noir producers, the Holy Grail has always been the wines of Burgundy, and while all these winemakers were inspired by them, they recognized that the Pinots of Santa Barbara County are different. Burgundy’s high-toned fruit imparts an earthy, forest floor aromatic to their wines and are vintage dependent, where Santa Barbara’s riper fruit yields bigger and bolder wines, good in most years. Yet both share a great affinity for food pairing. La Voix’s Clifton commented, “I think it’s very obvious in these wines, the mineral, the saline, the brine-like quality that peaks through in the wines, it’s what, in my opinion, makes these wines work so well with food. The same way that salt can enhance the food, it sets your mouth up for the flavors that are to come.” Just like the Chardonnay dialogue of the previous day, salinity once again seemed to define Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. Alma Rosa’s Sanford, the visionary pioneer that first identified the wine-grape growing potential of the Sta. Rita Hills, agreed, “Truly it’s that marine influence that prompted me to come to plant Pinot Noir here, because the diversity of climate in our region is probably greater than anyplace in the world.” Fess Parker’s Fox found the sandier soils in some areas definitive, “You can feel the fineness, the transparency in the wine, it seems almost as though it’s been filtered by the sand, it has that leaner sort of elegance rather than the meatier clay influence.” Nielson’s Pace felt he could differentiate the darker, fleshier notes of Santa Maria Valley Pinot from the saline, feminine elements of Sta. Rita Hills.
What makes for a fascinating experiment with these Santa Barbara Pinots is the many clones used by the winemakers, either a single or blend of several, like a work of art or piece of music, where the creator can choose according to the final vision he or she wants to bottle. Sanford summarized, “Pinot Noir tends to be genetically unstable, it does change over time depending on place, this is why it probably shows place more than any other variety.” Whether it’s Clone 667, with its big, meaty-like quality, or Clone 115, lighter, red-berried, more elegant and feminine, Clone 777 with its spicy element, or Pommard Clone that is big, muscular, and intense, the clonal diversity of Pinot Noir is astounding. It’s a gift to winemakers, who can make entirely different 100% Pinots from the same vineyard sites.
But the key to these intriguing Pinots lies with Mother Nature, whose near-perfect growing conditions give winemakers lots of latitude in interpreting their vineyards. As Chukan-Brown summarized, “You can make a broader range of styles because of the flexibility of farming. It’s a blessing and a curse because you don’t have that immediacy, the thing that’s kind of breathing down your throat, but now you’ve got to take responsibility, like what am I going to make, how is it going to be mine. That decision is yours, it’s not an act of God, it’s literally you, you have to decide what style you’re going to make, because you’re given all the opportunity in the world.” Fletcher agreed, “I can pick my wines on the earlier side or I can wait 3-1/2 months and pick them super ripe and unctuous and really rich, I can make the decision there.” Fox chimed in, “What I’ve learned, it was more about farming than anything else, the farming had to be specific to that goal.”
Tasting through the wines from Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills, it wasn’t so easy to align these Pinots according to vineyard sites, but more of a magical confluence of clones, climate, farming and winemaking decisions, whether whole-cluster fermentation, neutral oak, native yeasts or blending of clones.
What makes for a fascinating experiment with these Santa Barbara Pinots is the many clones used by the winemakers, either a single or blend of several, like a work of art or piece of music, where the creator can choose according to the final vision he or she wants to bottle. Sanford summarized, “Pinot Noir tends to be genetically unstable, it does change over time depending on place, this is why it probably shows place more than any other variety.” Whether it’s Clone 667, with its big, meaty-like quality, or Clone 115, lighter, red-berried, more elegant and feminine, Clone 777 with its spicy element, or Pommard Clone that is big, muscular, and intense, the clonal diversity of Pinot Noir is astounding. It’s a gift to winemakers, who can make entirely different 100% Pinots from the same vineyard sites.
But the key to these intriguing Pinots lies with Mother Nature, whose near-perfect growing conditions give winemakers lots of latitude in interpreting their vineyards. As Chukan-Brown summarized, “You can make a broader range of styles because of the flexibility of farming. It’s a blessing and a curse because you don’t have that immediacy, the thing that’s kind of breathing down your throat, but now you’ve got to take responsibility, like what am I going to make, how is it going to be mine. That decision is yours, it’s not an act of God, it’s literally you, you have to decide what style you’re going to make, because you’re given all the opportunity in the world.” Fletcher agreed, “I can pick my wines on the earlier side or I can wait 3-1/2 months and pick them super ripe and unctuous and really rich, I can make the decision there.” Fox chimed in, “What I’ve learned, it was more about farming than anything else, the farming had to be specific to that goal.”
Tasting through the wines from Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills, it wasn’t so easy to align these Pinots according to vineyard sites, but more of a magical confluence of clones, climate, farming and winemaking decisions, whether whole-cluster fermentation, neutral oak, native yeasts or blending of clones.
Steve Clifton of La Voix
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The 2013 La Voix “Satisfaction” Pinot Noir Kessler-Haak Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills is a delicate, more feminine style wine with ripe red fruit and spice, accented by herbs, orange peel, and mint. Clifton explains its elegance, mouthfeel, and purity of fruit is just the beginning, that there’s so much more. “La Voix is all about a mashup of art, music, and wine. I kind of liken it to knowing a song so well, you can play the chords you want to, and you can kinda pull back, you can play the notes you want to play, and leave space where you don’t have to play.”
Blair Fox of Fess Parker
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The 2014 Fess Parker Pinot Noir Parker West Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills is a blend of Clones 667 and 115, giving the wine a savory, meaty essence, with dark fruit, spice, and a raw beef accent, yet still lively and fresh with some floral notes. A small production wine, this Pinot is aged in 100% French oak barrels for 18 months, with 33% whole cluster fermentation. Fox notes, “I like using whole cluster in Pinot Noir. I think it adds structure, intensity, and age-worthy quality.”
Richard Sanford of Alma Rosa
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The 2013 Alma Rosa Clone 667 La Encantada Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is a more intense wine, earthy and savory, with red and black fruit, dried herbs, spice, and leather notes, it’s full mouthfeel ends long and luscious, a classic example of a single clone Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills.
Trey Fletcher of Solomon Hills
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The 2012 Solomon Hills Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley is soft, earthy, and ripe, with wild berry fruit, floral, and rhubarb notes. Fletcher admits that Solomon Hills, with its cold, wet, and extremely windy weather, is challenging. “It gives us small berries with very thick skins on very poor soils. I think that comes across in this wine, you get a very concentrated wine, but one that still has very pronounced acidity, and also good structure from those sandy soils.”
Ryan Pace of Nielson
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The 2013 Nielson Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley is richer and more opulent, with darker fruit, sweet spice, and oak notes. Pace notes, “The Nielson vineyard is 8-10 miles east of Solomon Hills, quite a bit warmer, the fog burns off about 1pm, and the wind is less full on than the Sta. Rita Hills.”
The 2013 Kenneth Volk Santa Maria Cuvée Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley is more fruit forward, blending fruit from Sierra Madre and Bien Nacido vineyards. Ripe dark fruit, Chinese 5-spice, and forest floor aromas intertwine with a firm structure. Although Volk couldn’t be at the seminar, Chukan-Brown spoke for him. “What Ken likes to do is take a really cool site and blend it with a really warm site, so you get that kind of balance and harmony of tones and flavor points, and I think that shows up in this wine. Ken’s goal is to express Santa Maria Valley, to pay tribute to some of the key sites and bring them together to find out how they work together.”
Wes Hagen of J. Wilkes Wines
Wes Hagen of J. Wilkes Wines, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, attended the seminar and gave his take on Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. “It’s a confounding area, that we’re still trying to get our heads around. I think these conversations, trying to pigeonhole what works, are about 100 years premature. This is us reaching to try to understand something that’s in its infancy.” He believes the wines speak of place, but perhaps because of man’s contributions, like newer clones and trellising choices. And then there’s Mother Nature’s touch, for example, the winds that whip through the Sta. Rita Hills affect the vines’ photosynthesis abilities, sometimes resulting in higher alcohol wines with “champagne acidity”.
In any case, Pinot Noir again proves itself to be a mysterious grape that produces hauntingly beautiful wines, in many different incarnations. Santa Barbara Pinot Noir is fascinating in its fragrance, finesse, and silky body, and exciting in its richness, complexity, and structure. Richard Sanford added, “ I think there is magic in all these wines, I can’t believe the quality of wine produced in the relatively short length of time, 35 years to become a world recognized appellation. There are beautiful and serious wines that are coming from our own backyard, Spread the word, it’s very good and very close (to LA).”
Next up, Santa Barbara County Rhône-Style Wines, truly a cornucopia of white and red wines from the likes of Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne and Viognier, to mention a few, with intriguing fruit and spice!
Next up, Santa Barbara County Rhône-Style Wines, truly a cornucopia of white and red wines from the likes of Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne and Viognier, to mention a few, with intriguing fruit and spice!