Often Riesling People – producers, somms, writers and fans – look across at the world of the wines from the red Pinot Noir and white Chardonnay grapes as if that were a parallel universe in which everything is always seriously exciting, completely harmonious and very cool at prices far above what even the most famous Riesling producers command. At best, this is a gross over-simplification that reduces the complex and subtle shadings of the real world to the level of a cartoon. If you attended the NYC tasting of the In Pursuit of Balance group of California producers today, then it must be clear to you that in fact this universe (be it alternative or otherwise) is the location an epic struggle, and this is not about details, rather it goes to the very core of what these wines could or should be.
The important thing to point out right from the beginning is, that the wines I tasted today were not willfully strange or extreme in the way some so-called “natural” wines are. Instead, there was a common striving for bright aromas, freshness, moderate body, together with alcohol and tannins that aren’t obtrusive, much less dominate the flavor of the wine. I think it’s fair to also describe this as the search for wine styles that avoid the heaviness of body, monumental density of flavor and up-front power that were long touted by many critics and experts as the Holy Grail of West Coast winemaking. Along with those things, the members of IPOB reject the combination of very high alcoholic content, low acidity, massive tannins and one-dimensional sweet flavors that often resulted from pursuing these goals. Many of the IPOB members are actually no longer in pursuit of balance, because their wines have it and in ways that are impressive, surprising and invigorating. It was really exciting to taste the best of them, and found this the most interesting wine tasting in NYC for a very long time.
However, not everyone in the wine scene sees it that way, some of the most important wine critics in America are skeptical about these wines, and a few of them, most notably the Wine Spectator’s Jim Laube, seem to regard these wines as the result of a misguided view of what California wines are all about. The skeptics fear that the IPOB members are not often picking their grapes unripe, condemning them to be thin, tart and unharmonious. I think it’s important to point out that those wine critics didn’t come to those conclusions alone, rather there’s a community of wine professionals and passionate amateurs out there who are of the same opinion as Jim Laube. These are the front lines in that epic struggle.
It struck me today how IPOB is often portrayed as being a group of producers fixated upon making wines with a low alcoholic content, but actually the alcoholic contents of the wines varied enormously. Often I’m rather good at assessing the alcoholic content of wines by tasting them, but today I failed again and again, because the impression of lightness did not always correspond to low alcoholic content. At one end of the scale were the wonderfully vibrant and fragrant 2013 Pinot Noirs from Jamie Kutch that were all under 12.5% alcohol. Right at the other end of the scale was the stunningly elegant 2012 Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir from Josh Jensen’s Calera which had a substantial 14.7% alcohol. In the middle, were lovely wines like the 2013 Morning Dew Vineyard Pinot Noir from Drew Family Cellars in Alexander Valley with its bright cherry nose, and a simultaneously rich and slightly sappy flavor that tasted lighter than its rather conventional 13.8% alcoholic content. In short, there was great stylistic diversity allied to that common sense of purpose. I found myself in pursuit of greater open-mindedness and the fruits of this search were delightful and inspiring!
PS I think it’s important to point out that the most completely impressive groups of wines at the IPOB tasting were those from the “Old Hands” of Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Josh Jensen of Calera and Jeffrey Patterson of Mount Eden. Practice really does make perfect when it comes to elegance and subtlety in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
