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The wine world is, once again, gripped by debate. The exciting new topic? Well, it’s actually the same old topic: the French idea of terroir and the notion held by many that California can’t make wines that express it. To view some of the debate, read the salvo “California Wine? Down the Drain,” by Alice Feiring in the Los Angeles Times, and a response by Matthew DeBord the next week, “Terroir-izing California Wine,” which was subtitled: “East Coast snobs with Old World sympathies take cheap shots at a great product.”
DeBord is right about one thing: The wine world is loaded with people who look down on California wines and worship, as he puts it, “various backwater French bottlings.” I see these people, drink with them all the time. Many of them, in fact, are California winemakers.
But the heart of this debate is not just about wine. Terroir, the French term that means the sum total of the environmental forces acting on a vine (sun, soil, rain, wind), has come to mean something much more: soul. And the question is not whether a wine shows terroir to Feiring or fruit to DeBord. Rather, it’s whether the wine was conceived and fabricated as a commercial product to pander to critics (or consumers) or if it is more of an agricultural product, plucked from the land as you might pull a carrot from your backyard.
Instead of the word terroir, which has become so loaded and confusing, I prefer to use the term coined by the brilliant wine writer Matt Kramer: somewhereness. Does the wine taste like it could have come from anywhere, or from somewhere specific? It is a quality that is hard to describe, but you know it when you taste it. In this age of media manipulation for crass political and commercial purposes, most people I know would like to be talked to truthfully and directly. And they’d like to drink wines with somewhereness.
Feiring is right that most California wines taste like they could have come from anywhere. Making wines with somewhereness is not as easy here as it is in France. For one, the French have thousands of years of winemaking experience on us. They didn’t have to pay the price of prime California acreage, not to mention the immense start-up costs of planting a vineyard. For another, most of Feiring’s favorite winemakers inherited their property from parents, grandparents, and beyond. Newer winemakers—in California, say—can rely on technological tools like dealcoholizers, wood chips, and instant tannin to make up for the lack of years and years of planting and replanting. The downside is that these wines are always missing something.
However, to denigrate the entire state of California is unfair. It’s full of winemakers trying to make wines with somewhereness, and many are succeeding. Here are three.
2005 Ridge Lytton Springs—Wines don’t have to be made of a single variety to show somewhereness. From 111-year-old and 48-year-old Zinfandel, plus Grenache, Carignane, and Petite Syrah vines, the definitive California Zinfandel field blend.
2006 Qupé Marsanne Santa Ynez Valley—Wines don’t have to be from a single vineyard to exhibit somewhereness. While this one is made up of disparate components from mostly the same region, it still has “it.”
2004 Calera Reed Vineyard Pinot Noir —But of course single-vineyard, single-varieties work just fine. Pinot Noir vines planted in 1975 make a silky, mineral-driven wine with characteristic spice and flowers.
>>> While I'm more familiar with single vineyard PNs, and can indentify certain vineyards like Amber Ridge, Savoy, or Rancho Ontiveros regardless of the winemaker, the same can be said of certain Cabernets like those from Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, etc. <
No doubt. But then there are ALSO wines from these areas/AVAs that are impossible to ascertain their origin without looking at the...+READ
>>> While I'm more familiar with single vineyard PNs, and can indentify certain vineyards like Amber Ridge, Savoy, or Rancho Ontiveros regardless of the winemaker, the same can be said of certain Cabernets like those from Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, etc. <
No doubt. But then there are ALSO wines from these areas/AVAs that are impossible to ascertain their origin without looking at the bottle . . .-COLLAPSE
The problem I find is that far too often (and California is by no means alone in this) the impact of the winemaker obliterates terroir. I find this particular frequent in California Pinot Noir, though clearly there are exceptions . . .
To further my thought in that led to your response above, certain vineyards, both for Cabs and PN, are distinctive. Yes the impact of the winemaker is evident,...+READ
The problem I find is that far too often (and California is by no means alone in this) the impact of the winemaker obliterates terroir. I find this particular frequent in California Pinot Noir, though clearly there are exceptions . . .
To further my thought in that led to your response above, certain vineyards, both for Cabs and PN, are distinctive. Yes the impact of the winemaker is evident, and each has a different approach to the grape, but there is still a distinctive signature that some vineyards have that remains regardless of who is making the wine. While I'm more familiar with single vineyard PNs, and can indentify certain vineyards like Amber Ridge, Savoy, or Rancho Ontiveros regardless of the winemaker, the same can be said of certain Cabernets like those from Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, etc.-COLLAPSE
>>> There are those who would say that the same thing is happening to many European wines. <
Oh, I'm probably one who would say just that . . . but I don't mind it when it comes to vins du pays or to those non-AOC wines, many of which are now varietally labeled. But I am old-fashioned enough to want my (e.g.) St.-Émilion to taste like St.-Émilion, my Pouilly-Fumé to taste like Pouilly-Fumé, and my...+READ
>>> There are those who would say that the same thing is happening to many European wines. <
Oh, I'm probably one who would say just that . . . but I don't mind it when it comes to vins du pays or to those non-AOC wines, many of which are now varietally labeled. But I am old-fashioned enough to want my (e.g.) St.-Émilion to taste like St.-Émilion, my Pouilly-Fumé to taste like Pouilly-Fumé, and my Chambertin to taste like Chambertin -- and not like Michel Rolland, Didier Dageneau, or Dominique Laurent . . .
Laurent is a good example. I used to import his wines into the US. Great wines . . . up to a point. The "higher" one goes in appellations, however, the more I didn't like his wines (personally -- I absolutely LOVED selling them!). His villages-level and regional wines (e.g.: Vosne-Romanée, Beaune, Bourgogne) were stunning. His Premiers Crus were often excellent. But I often had a very difficult time distinguishing one Grand Cru from another, when it should have been easy -- they taste too much of oak and not enough of the vineyard, the location, the terroir . . . .
YMMV.-COLLAPSE
Any experience with Calcereous Vineyard? I was trying to find locations of calcereous geology in California to see who else might have soil like Calera, and then stumbled upon Calcerous who went ahead and named themselves after the soil type. Their wines are in the $20 to $30 range, so either they're undiscovered or just not producing quality juice.
Jason,
There are those who would say that the same thing is happening to many European wines. (I wouldn't, but you have to admit that many of them are going for the "New World" style and moving away from what made them so distinctive in the first place.)
Bob
>>> And just like you can recognize that Rutherford dust at the first sip, the same can be said for some single vineyard PNs (for example Amber Ridge or Rosella's vineyard) that are extremely distinctive. <
The problem I find is that far too often (and California is by no means alone in this) the impact of the winemaker obliterates terroir. I find this particular frequent in California Pinot Noir,...+READ
>>> And just like you can recognize that Rutherford dust at the first sip, the same can be said for some single vineyard PNs (for example Amber Ridge or Rosella's vineyard) that are extremely distinctive. <
The problem I find is that far too often (and California is by no means alone in this) the impact of the winemaker obliterates terroir. I find this particular frequent in California Pinot Noir, though clearly there are exceptions . . .-COLLAPSE
>>> But I love it when alleged experts say U.S. wine is rotgut <
Please name one published wine writer or recognized "expert" that says all U.S. wine is rotgut.
TIA,
Jason
Anyone who has ever tasted a Cabernet from Rutherford should understand that there are California wines do exhibit their "terroir." And just like you can recognize that Rutherford dust at the first sip, the same can be said for some single vineyard PNs (for example Amber Ridge or Rosella's vineyard) that are extremely distinctive. While I am a big PN geek, I have no trouble distinguishing PNs...+READ
Anyone who has ever tasted a Cabernet from Rutherford should understand that there are California wines do exhibit their "terroir." And just like you can recognize that Rutherford dust at the first sip, the same can be said for some single vineyard PNs (for example Amber Ridge or Rosella's vineyard) that are extremely distinctive. While I am a big PN geek, I have no trouble distinguishing PNs from the Sonoma Coast from those from the RRV.-COLLAPSE
Up until now, the French law governing wine production has led to that sense of somewhereness, because when you drink, for example, a glass of Chablis, you know it is Chardonnay grapes only (by law) grown in the town of Chablis, where there are huge limestone rocks and fossilized snails the size of melons. That French wine is dependent more on weather and less on a bag of wine-making tricks leads...+READ
Up until now, the French law governing wine production has led to that sense of somewhereness, because when you drink, for example, a glass of Chablis, you know it is Chardonnay grapes only (by law) grown in the town of Chablis, where there are huge limestone rocks and fossilized snails the size of melons. That French wine is dependent more on weather and less on a bag of wine-making tricks leads to some years being better than others. I don't want that consistent taste that mass-produced wine (from anywhere) provides. It's the subtleties that change with each vintage that provide endless fascination and more than occasional wonders in a glass. In the California wine scene, there are some hugely talented wine makers who produce gorgeous wines and understand, like their French brethren, that correct siting of a vineyard will produce better results. But, there's just not a law telling them do it, so lesser wine makers are free to plant, for example, Pinot Noir, anywhere they please, which leads to weak and undrinkable wine.-COLLAPSE
Not all French wine has somewhereness either. The French wines that I buy? Maybe. But there are millions of gallons there that taste as generic or worse, in fact, than what California produces.
In the grand scheme of things, and I'm a bit of a Francophile, France probably has just as large of a percentage of soul-less wine in ratio to sublime as California does.
The well-known French winemakers have have made their wines for critics, too. The critics used to be known as rich people. Now some winemakers with great reputations are understandably upset at people having found their wine is, in some years, ordinary stuff.
But I love it when alleged experts say U.S. wine is rotgut. Keeps the prices down. They can drink labels, while people who don't judge by...+READ
The well-known French winemakers have have made their wines for critics, too. The critics used to be known as rich people. Now some winemakers with great reputations are understandably upset at people having found their wine is, in some years, ordinary stuff.
But I love it when alleged experts say U.S. wine is rotgut. Keeps the prices down. They can drink labels, while people who don't judge by the label get better buys. Hey, California wine is awful. Don't buy it!-COLLAPSE