Russian River Elegance from Porter Creek Vineyards
7/26/18 -
We're excited to offer some fantastic wines from Porter Creek Vineyards, located in the Russian River Valley. Now one of the most recognizable AVAs in American wine, George Davis bought his first vineyards in 1977, six years before the area was given AVA status in 1983 and a very long time before the widespread explosion of popularity, planting, and investment that occurred around the turn of the 21st century. While ascending in popularity, the Russian River Valley AVA skewed in the direction of velvety, dark-fruited, richer styles, but Porter Creek has remained linear and elegant.
In 1997, George's son Alex took over the winemaking responsibilities, and has endeavored to keep the estate true to its founding principles, with one significant change: conversion to biodynamic viticulture. To this day, the wines retain extraordinary balance and a remarkably silken texture. This is in part due to Alex's having worked in France for several years, including with Christophe Roumier in Chambolle-Musigny and Marcel Guigal in Côte-Rôtie. From his time in Europe Alex learned some important tenets. First, the harder you work in the vineyard, the less you need to do in the cellar. Second, if you harvest when the grapes are at the right sugar-acid balance, there will be no need for adjustments. Lastly, while many in California use gases like nitrogen or argon to protect their juice, Alex believes that a little air exposure early on builds oxygen resistance in the long term, and so he does not use these gases. I have found the wines to have excellent reserve, and definitely benefit from cellaring. Recently I had the opportunity to taste the Fiona Hill vineyard Pinot Noir from 2007, and the fruit character, structure, and the ineffable silkiness that is a hallmark of this estate were all transformed in a symphony of integration.
The first of the wines we have to offer today is the 2015 RRV Chardonnay Old Vine, with fruit sourced from their own vineyards and a little from an organically farmed vineyard in Green Valley, the coolest and foggiest sub-region of the Russian River Valley. This wine is whole cluster pressed and aged in 25% new French oak for 11 months. In addition we're offering the highly coveted 2016 George's Hill Vineyard RRV Chardonnay, a powerful, searing testament to picking at the right time. This is estate fruit sourced from a vineyard named in honor of Porter Creek's founder.
Next we have some awesome Pinot Noirs, both 100% estate fruit. The 2015 RRV Pinot Noir is a classic Pinot, with fantastic fruit, and, as with most Porter Creek wines, is aged in one-quarter new French oak barrels for 11 months. In addition we're offering the 2014 Fiona Hill Vineyard RRV Pinot Noir, one of the finest California Pinots I've ever tasted, containing multitudes within its immense length.
Lastly, we have their super juicy 2015 Mendocino Old Vine Carignan, which is a bright and absolutely crushable coda to a quartet of awesome classics. Andrew Farquhar
