"New World" Pinot Noir

Pinot noir, the majestic grape varieties which every wine lovers love to drink and every wine growers want to plant and work with.
We all know its home town is Burgundy in France. Everyone gets excited to talk about it; however the Burgundy growers they don't even state it on the label but instead, they print the provenance of the vineyard, commune, village or a region denomination.  
In this post, we don't talk about the luxury Burgundy wines but a few experiences I had with some Pinot Noir around the world in the classic New World. 
There are so many regions in the north and south hemisphere trying to work with this delicate grape. Yes, this grape is very delicate if you don't nail it you can ruin everything, even French people sometimes messed up with it.  
I'll start with one of the last experience I had Domaine de La Cote from Santa Barbara County in California on the Santa Rita Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) the legal denomination for American Wines. 
Sta. Rita Hills is actually within the Santa Ynez Valley appellation. Maritime climate influence, combined with the sedimentary soils with patches of limestone a perfect place to grow the appellation's hallmark Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
According to Antonio 
Galloni The last set of sites of note is found at the very western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills, where Domaine de la Côte has developed vineyards in what is considered some of the coldest, most marginal sites in the appellation .


Welcome to the Sta. Rita Hills from Jeremy Ball on Vimeo.

Domaine de la Cote is a project of the famous American Sommelier  Rajat Parr...

Domaine de la Côte translates literally to ‘Estate of the Slope’. The Domaine is a collection of 5 vineyards planted along a south-facing hillside at the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills. Rising to an elevation of 700 feet, the Domaine sits atop a 25 million-year-old seabed, just 7 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
The single sites make 4 Cuvee
Memorious, Bloom’s Field, la Côte, and Siren’s Call which are all planted entirely to California heritage selections (Calera, Swan, and Mt. Eden) at extremely high vine densities between 4,000 and 7,000 vines per acre; each vineyard has unique geology, aspect, elevation, and microclimate.
Whole-cluster fermented in open concrete tanks with punch down. The wines are raised exclusively in Ermitage barrels, a minority of which are new each vintage. The wines are bottled without any fining or filtration after 14 months in barrel.
The Cuvee I drank lately was the single site Bloom's Field 2014 
Pale in color with vivid transparency, the great intensity between red fruit and spicy element some herbal green character from a whole cluster fermentation. The palate is a medium plus acidity and medium alcohol great body with elegant finesse, the oaky element are there but not disturbing the fruit a nice long finish with a slightly sweetness. Definitely a good drop with some aging potential despite the complexity of the fruit, I would love to revisit the bottle in 5 years to see if the mushroom decay fruitness comes up and the spine acidity will correlate with them. 90/100

Next wine I would like to talk about is from Tasmania "Holymann" by Stoney Rise
Stoney Rise Wine Company is located in the heart of the Tamar Valley in Northern Tasmania, Australia. It is a family run boutique winery owned by Joe and Lou Holyman.
Tasmania for the Australian wine law is one total denomination G.I. (Geographical Indication) without subzone, unfortunately.
Tamar Valley is on the north part of the Island near Launceston,  a latitude around 42 degrees shares the same cool climate characteristics of the Cote d’Or. Harvest takes place in March & April followed by pruning over winter, then budburst in September kicks off the growing season again.
Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are all grown here. In red wines, Pinot Noir is the king, from the bright cherry and raspberry scented wines from the Lower Tamar, to the heady truffle and black cherry aromas from the Upper Tamar vineyards.
Joe and Lou Holyman are very conscious of the environment; use minimal sprays and have not used herbicides for 3 years. They have begun to use some biodynamic preparations on the soil in an effort to build soil health which they believe will result in increased vine health.
The vineyard is only 30 meters above sea level, with the lowest being less than 10 meters, and it is less than 1 kilometer from the Tamar River. The yields are 4.5 tonnes per hectare.

The vines are planted in 1986, the fermentation is 60% whole bunch on 30% new French oak
Light in color, forest floor and hints of cranberry and red cherry great nose intensity, The palate has red-fruits, raspberry and cherry, hints of mushroom and a smoky edge.  The chalky tannin from the whole bunch is perfectly silky and pleased to taste.  According to them, 2016 was a warm vintage so the wine shows some sweet element but it is quite savory the finish is quite long. 95/100



In Central Victoria a cool climate region Macedon Ranges G.I. (Geographical Indication)

The Macedon Ranges is on Melbourne’s doorstep, less than an hour from the city and elevated with the vineyard areas generally above 400 meters and up to 700 meters.
The vineyards are located along either side of the Great Dividing Ranges seeking the optimum interaction of soil, topography, aspect, and climate.  With cool summers, the ripening period is in the cool of autumn.
The wines reflect the climate and topography. There is diversity, but the predominant characters are a natural acidity and steely backbone; fine, intense but delicate fruit characters and soft tannin's in the red wines. The balance of alcohol, acidity and fruit provide complexity and longevity.

2018 Macedon Ranges Wine and Food Budburst Festival from Chris Appleby on Vimeo.

Joshua Cooper farming in  Macedon Ranges and Surrounds he is the son of the great producer Cobaw Ridge. Joshua focuses on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and some Syrah.
I tasted his wines different time but the single vineyard Doug's Vineyard Romsey from 2017 has been my favorite.
Doug’s Vineyard is situated on the outskirts of the township of Romsey, in the Macedon Ranges.
it was planted 20 years ago.
A cool hamlet, the vines sit at around 500m altitude,  North East facing hillside on red rocky volcanic basalt soil. Hand harvested, whole cluster to open fermenters. The grapes were gently extracted by a combination of pumping over and pigeage by foot. The wine then pressed after a total of three weeks on skins and transferred to a single and new oak Burgundian piece for lees aging for 12 months,
followed by six months in stainless steel on fine lees unfined and unfiltered. The only addition to
the wine is a small dose of sulphur the week before bottling.
Bright ruby exotic spice, rose, some earth and herbs and concentrated sour cherry and raspberry fruit.
Long, fine and deep, with silky but present tannin and fresh acidity. 95/100






Of course around the world there are some other cool Pinot Noir .....


Best
raffaele mastrovincenzo

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