Pinot Noir grapes are, without a doubt, one of the world’s most expensive grapes to grow, as well as one of the most difficult grapes to cultivate. Like an orchid, it requires constancy, just the right soil with a precise environment to thrive, and temperatures that are neither too cool nor too warm. More often than not, the temperamental Pinot Noir grape acts as a jealous and demanding lover. However, when the stars align, the terroir is ideal, and the winemaker possesses enough knowledge of the finicky, thin-skinned Pinot Noir grape to know when less is more in the winemaking process, Pinot Noir becomes transfigured and the wine it yields shines with a luster like no other.

Adored by connoisseurs and idolized by collectors and critics, Pinot Noir enjoys worldwide appeal. Pinot Noir’s ancestral home is France, where it is responsible for all of the great red wines of Burgundy, including Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot, and Romanée Conti – the latter being the world’s most expensive wine. For centuries, French Burgundy enjoyed the reputation as the only great Pinot Noir. However, in the past forty years, California’s Carneros, Monterey, Russian River, Santa Barbara, and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations have lured Pinot Noir lovers by fashioning world-class Pinot Noirs. Oregon’s Willamette Valley, New Zealand’s Central Otago, and most recently Chile’s cool Casablanca Valley also rank as meccas for the mercurial Pinot Noir.

Although fine Pinot Noir will never be cheap, it need not break the bank. Some exceptional affordable French Burgundies still exist, including the 2012 Domaine Jacques Girardin Clos Rousseau Premier Cru Santenay, and the 2010 and 2012 Jacques Girardin Les Feuillets Premier Cru Savigny-les-Beaune. From California, Fore Family Vineyards’ 2009 and 2010 Carneros Napa Pinot Noirs truly outperform the pack by delivering complex, age-worthy Pinot Noirs that keep on giving. Benovia, Freeman, Molnar, Paraiso, and Walt are other outstanding boutique California producers of world-class Pinot Noir, but whose wines cost a fraction of most Premier and Grand Cru French Burgundies.

Walt’s La Brisa and Blue Jay offerings are especially worth seeking out. Oregon’s Willamette Valley holds another treasure trove of outstanding Pinot Noirs. Bethel Heights 2012 Aeolian Estate Eola Amity Hills Pinot Noir is just the most recent success from this pioneering Willamette Valley family estate. And from lands “down under,” few can match Josef Chromy in Tasmania or Rockburn in New Zealand’s Central Otago in fashioning outstanding Pinot Noir. Enjoy!

Salud!
Don

Châteauneuf-du-Pape sits astride the swift-moving Rhône River in the sun-drenched heart of Provence, known as the Vaucluse.  Blessed with a dry Mediterranean climate ideal for the cultivation of vines and the production of wine, this picturesque wine region fashions a vast array of the world’s greatest red wines, thanks in large part to the proliferation of old-vine Grenache.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape championed France’s Appellation Control and was the first wine region in the world to garner Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) status in 1936.  Châteauneuf-du-Pape became the model for the entire French system of Appellation Control and nearly all other subsequent attempts to guarantee the authenticity of wine and improve the wine of individual wine regions worldwide.  Quality and integrity have long been the hallmarks of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which led Robert Parker, Jr. and other wine critics to dub Châteauneuf-du-Pape France’s greatest appellation.

Great wine almost always begins with healthy old vines, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape possesses some of the oldest vines in France. The average age of the vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is in excess of 40 years, by far the oldest of any major appellation in France, and many of those vines are actually more than 100 years old.

In addition, the entire production of this great wine is hand harvested.  Moreover, there is the region’s fabulous terroir – large, flat stones known as galets roulés that mingle with decomposed gravel.  These remnants of Alpine glaciers, which once covered southern France, form Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s glacial till. This sacred till provides excellent drainage and imparts subtle nuances of flavor to the appellation’s outstanding wines. Many consumers are surprised that both red and white wines emanate from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region, and that red Châteauneuf-du-Pape may contain up to thirteen legal grape varieties!

Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan, and Vaccarese are all legal grape varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and a case can be made that there are actually fourteen legal grape varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as Grenache comes in both red and white varieties.  Although many fine white Châteauneuf-du-Papes now proliferate in the market, red wine still reigns supreme in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Hundreds of proprietors fashion red Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the appellation’s more than 8,000 acres, much of it world class.  Some of the most consistent producers of top-notch red Châteauneuf-du-Pape include Château Beaucastel, Domaine Vieux Lazaret, Guigal, and Domaine du Grand Tinel. The latter’s regular estate bottling and luxury Cuvée Establet offerings constitute two of the greatest values in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Salud!
Don

From Cabernet Sauvignon to Zinfandel, California’s Napa and Sonoma counties continue to fashion outstanding California wines, but these prized areas are far from the only games in town. Many of California’s most compelling wines now flow from two little-known American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) tucked into the hills of Santa Barbara County: the delightfully named Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon. Together, these small AVAs are producing compelling Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignons that outperform many of the better known and more expensive red wines from Napa and Sonoma.

Ballard Canyon

Ballard Canyon enjoys its own distinctive AVA within Santa Barbara County, thanks to pioneers Tom, Judy, and Steve Beckmen of Beckmen Vineyards, Tom Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards, and several other like-minded individuals who recognized the unique climate and terroir of Ballard Canyon decades ago and pioneered its planting.

Ballard Canyon enjoys cool maritime influences from the Santa Rita Hills to the west and warmer temperatures from Happy Canyon to the east. With wind, soil, and climate all conducive to the production of great Syrah, Ballard Canyon has become a premier source for exceptional Syrah.

Possessing the finesse and complex aromatic profiles of the finest Syrah from France’s Rhône Valley, as well as the beautiful fruit and physiologically ripe tannins that make California’s red wines so appealing, Ballard Canyon truly shines with Syrah, so much so that Ballard Canyon is becoming synonymous with great Syrah throughout the world. What Napa Valley is to great Cabernet Sauvignon, Ballard Canyon now is to Syrah.

Happy Canyon

Happy Canyon is emerging as one of California’s most exciting wine regions for the production of Bordeaux varietals. It is one of the smallest and least traveled viticultural areas of California, yet in spite of its diminutive size, Happy Canyon and its splendid hillside vineyards are making big names for themselves among savvy Cabernet drinkers.

Located at the far end of the Santa Ynez Valley, in the easternmost part of Santa Barbara County, Happy Canyon and its pastoral surroundings first gained renown for their premier orchards and sprawling cattle and horse ranches. It wasn’t until 1996 that vineyards first emerged on Happy Canyon’s bucolic hillsides. However, it didn’t take long to realize the canyon’s viticultural potential; with only a handful of vineyards and a tiny production, Happy Canyon gained its own official American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation in 2009.

Happy Canyon enjoys the warmest climate in Santa Barbara County, and the AVA’s unique microclimate and magnesium-rich, serpentine-laced soils provide ideal growing conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon and other high quality Bordeaux varietals – all of which are making cri
tics and wine lovers swoon.

Westerly and parent producer Crown Point Vineyards are two of the most compelling ventures in Happy Canyon. As one would expect, with a growing reputation for outstanding wines and only eight vineyards and three bona fide wineries to its name, Happy Canyon’s hand-crafted wines are highly allocated. Perhaps, the secret is already out?

Salud!
Don

The quintessential Tempranillo grape varietal figures prominently in the greatest red wines of Spain. Whether it is the iconic Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero, Valenciso in Rioja, or a bevy of extraordinary values from Castilla, Leon, Toro, La Mancha, and elsewhere in Spain, Tempranillo grapes reign supreme.

Tempranillo, a dark-skinned grape variety indigenous to Spain, is Spain’s noble red grape varietal.  It is grown throughout Spain, though it thrives in Ribera del Duero, Rioja, and in the interior of Spain, where the climate is continental rather than Mediterranean. The grape derives its name from the Spanish word temprano, meaning “early,” for its propensity to ripen earlier than other red grape varietals.  In some parts of Spain, and especially in Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo shines on its own as a varietal, while Rioja and other Spanish wine regions blend Garnacha, Mazuelo, or other grape varieties with a predominance of Tempranillo. Tempranillo yields a medium- to full-bodied wine, which benefits greatly from extended ageing in French and American oak barrels.

The list of incredible Tempranillo wines from Spain is nearly endless, yet no one consistently produces a better portfolio of estate grown and bottled Tempranillo wines than the legendary Alejandro Fernandez, the “King of Tempranillo.”  Fernandez fashions four outstanding Tempranillo wines at his four estates: Pesquera, Condado de Haza, Dehesa La Granja, and El Vinculo.  Pesquera and Condado de Haza bear the great Ribera del Duero DOC, while Dehesa La Granja hails from a prized property in Zamora along the Duero, a sprawling ranch which once served as Spain’s greatest bull raising ranch. El Vinculo hails from La Mancha, whose vines are over 80 years old.  For consumers searching for great Spanish red wines, they need look no further than Alejandro Fernandez’s four Tempranillo jewels.

Salud!
Don