Radical Purity: Left Coast Highlights
4/07/12 -
From the fringes of the Willamette Valley to the foothills of the Sierras, West Coast winemakers are breaking new ground. We're particularly impressed by Olga and Barnaby Tuttle of Teutonic Wine Company, who farm and source fruit from extreme Oregon vineyards. They make tangy, focused, mineral-driven Oregon wines, wines that taste as though they emerged from the soil. Inspired by the wines of Germany and Alsace, these folks take lightness and acidity very seriously. To my knowledge, none of their wines exceed 12% alcohol. Bravo!
From Mendocino and Sonoma, we have the wines of Knez and Anthill Farms, two wineries that share a vineyard manager and cellar-master: Anthony Filiberti. Recently I had the chance to taste a line-up of these wines and was blown away by their purity, balance, and charm. Filiberti was manning the tasting table and had the weathered look of a vigneron — a man who works the soil. Knez owns the Cerise vineyard (a site made famous by Littorai) as well as the Demuth vineyard, one of the coolest sites in California at 1700 feet up above the Anderson Valley. Both vineyards are farmed organically. Knez's Anderson Valley Pinot was especially exciting, beautifully red-fruited with spicy, mineral-laced flavors. It was both weightless and perfectly concentrated. At $27, this is a California Pinot I could drink a lot of!
We also have tiny quantities of red and white wine from the great Syrah magicians of Mendocino and Sonoma, Arnot-Roberts. These are some of my personal favorites from California and the 2010 Clary Ranch is the best American Syrah I've tasted. At 12.2% alcohol and perfectly ripe, this has all the savory flavors of the grape, with great acidity, precision, and clarity for California Syrah. I recently enjoyed Arnot's Campagni-Portis White with citrusy, herby chicken tacos and it was fantastic, balanced with notes of lime zest, honeysuckle, and wet stone. The wine reminded me of a top tier Albarino or Godello from northwestern Spain. Again, quantities of these excellent cool climate California wines are very limited, so act now!
Moving to the Russian River Valley, you'll find long-time CSW favorites, Porter Creek. Alex Davis farms the Fiona Hill vineyard biodynamically and from it makes very pretty Pinots that are both rich and elegant. The 2009 has a lovely, savory side and depth that the clay/broken bedrock soils seem to impart. Porter Creek has been breaking ground for 30 years now and their wines continue to get better and better.
Last but not least, we have received a good-sized allocation of La Clarine Farms 2010 Sumu Kaw Syrah. A difficult vintage in California yielded a brilliant Syrah from winemaker Hank Beckmeyer. Bright and forthright, the wine is ready to drink, but also cellar-able for the next few years. Hank Beckmeyer embodies everything that draws us to the new wave of West Coast winemakers: an unlikely terroir in the Sierra Foothills, Fukuoka-method farming, gentle extraction, and low sulfur additions during the winemaking. Cheers to Hank and the rest of the new wave from our West Coast! -Chris
