CALIFORNIA
Are you looking for a Pinot with lavish black cherry and baked berry flavors sprinkled with baking spice and toasted oak? Or is an ethereal and tense option more your choice, with its brisk red fruit and waves of bay leaf and juniper? You can have either style of Pinot Noir from California’s Central Coast, where the chameleonesque grape reflects a myriad of microclimates and winemaker whims, usually with delicious results.
The chamelonesque grape reflects a myriad of microclimates and winemaker whims.
Given the appellation’s more than 90,000 vineyard acres planted across nearly 300 miles, from the San Francisco Bay to the Santa Barbara coast, the variety shouldn’t surprise.
But recent interest in more transparent wines unleashed a wave of winemakers eager to explore such austere styles. Melville Winery packs fruit with herbs like few others, while Scar of the Sea, Soquel Vineyards and Tread, the new Zaca Mesa brand, combine energy with elegance. Cool-climate vineyards are key to this style, according to Cole Thomas of Madson Wines, which sources from the Santa Cruz Mountains then uses native yeasts and mostly neutral oak in the cellar. Due to old politics, the Santa Cruz Mountains are technically not in the Central Coast AVA, but they’re grouped together for this analysis.
However, there’s no shortage of rich Pinot Noir from the Central Coast. Loring Wine Company makes powerful wines from across the region, with a particularly opulent Santa Lucia Highlands bottling. Fess Parker and Landmark in the Sta. Rita Hills aren’t afraid of oak, and wineries in Paso Robles, such as Sculpterra and Asuncion Ridge, go bold as well.
As a brand built on richer wine, Kosta Browne is scaling back a bit, but the recent wines remain full of plump fruit. “Over the years, we’ve fine-tuned our style by focusing on balancing California’s natural gorgeous fruit profile in a slightly more elegant tone, while remaining true to our bold identity,” says Winemaker Julien Howsepian, who credits the Central Coast’s aging vineyards for producing more nuanced grapes today.
97 Melville 2019 Sandy’s Block Estate For full review see page 98.
