1. Intermediate Wine
Course: IV
16 May 2012
Nth California & the
Pacific North-West
Copyright © Brian Jamieson

2. USA wine production
 Wineries in all 50 States
 Main centres: California, Oregon, Washington
and New York.
 Post-Pylloxera, familiar European varieties on
native American root stocks
 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) since 1980:
can be a whole County or a small geographic
area; e. g. Mendocino AVA and Oakville AVA

3. Californian wine production
 Thriving wine industry before Phylloxera in late
1880s
 Prohibition in 1920s
 1930-1960: Cheap, bulk wines from Central
Valley
 1960–present: Explosive growth in quality and
quantity; small boutique wineries
 Polarisation of size of winery and quality (and
cost) of wine
 Quality wines from cooler regions: Davis Zones
I-III

4. Wineries in California by County
 Napa 284
 Sonoma 210
 San Luis Obispo 98
 Santa Barbara 50
 Mendocino 46
 TOTAL 1,050

5. Today’s 1
wines 4
2 5
7

6. Davis Climatic
Zones
 Region I: <2,500 degree days
 Bordeaux, Champagne
 Region II: 2,500-3,000 degree days
 Nth Italy (Piemonte)
 Region III: 3,000-3,500 degree days
 Nth Spain
 Region IV: 3,500-4,000 degree days
 Cape Province SA, Tuscany
 Region V: >4,000 degree days
 Western Australia

8. Napa Valley
Monoculture

10. 1. Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc, 2008
 Blend of organic fruit from Mendocino and Lake
counties.
 95% Sauvignon Blanc; 4% Muscat; 1%
Chardonnay
 100% Cold stainless steel fermentation
 Residual Sugar: 4.7 grams/l
 Alcohol: 13.2%

11. Bonterra Vineyards
Bonterra has been producing
wine from 100%
organically-grown grapes
since 1993.
Some Biodynamic practices,
too.

12. Bonterra Winery: Mendocino
1

13. 1. Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc, 2008
 Colour: Pale-green
 Aroma: Intense aromas of grapefruit, citrus, kiwi
and fresh cut grass greet the nose
 Palate: The crisp acidity gives the wine a fresh
vibrant feel with flavours of grapefruit, lime zest
and grass that closes with flavours of melon and
a nice tart finish.

14. 2. Cartlidge and Browne
Chardonnay, North Coast, 2010
 The Cartlidge and Browne winery is in Santa Rosa, Nth
Sonoma
 Cartlidge and Browne buy in grapes from their extensive
contact list of growers, in Mendocino, Sonoma and the
Sierra foothills.
 The winemaker, Paul Moser, aims to make wines in the
restrained European style where quality relies on fruit
and balance rather than power.
 The chardonnays have bags of fresh fruit flavour and are
considered to be among California’s best value whites.

15. 2. Cartlidge and Browne
Chardonnay, North Coast 2010
 Aroma: green, red and brown apple medley and
more floral honeysuckle lead.
 Palate: both silky and alive. Flavours of honey
and baked bread from sur lees aging while
maintaining a delicious fruit profile.
 Very French in style with an elegant minerality
and complexity combined with the slightest
caramel and brown sugar notes.

16. Sonoma
Valley
North end
Healdsburg main centre

17. Sonoma
Valley
Southern end
Los Carneros links
Napa & Sonoma

18. 5
3

19. 3. Six Vineyards Pinot Noir,
Willamette Valley, 2008
 Eric Lemelson came to the wine business after a
previous career as an environmental lawyer
 First Pinot Noir vines were planted in 1995. Today some
120 acres and a unique state-of-the-art winery
 The vineyards have been farmed organically given
Lemelson’s environmental background and belief that
grapes develop their full flavour potential without the use
of synthetic chemicals
 A fine, plump, cherry-fruited pinot blended from six
vineyard sites, and now Lemelson’s second label.

20. 3. Six Vineyards Pinot Noir,
Willamette Valley, 2008
 Nose: it has great aromatic complexity with strawberry,
plum, dried flowers, ripe black cherries and subtle earth.
 Palate: is bright and fresh with lovely, sweet red cherry
and citrus throughout the soft, medium-bodied mid-
palate. Bigger than average tannins serve to create an
unusually long finish for this wine
 It is drinking very well, even days after bottling.
Now to 2014.

21. DVD Interlude
Jancis Robinson
 Biodynamism in Burgundy
 Terroir
 Oregon (Willamette Valley AVA)
 Pinot Noir in California (Russian River AVA)
15 minutes

22. Napa
Valley
Napa Valley AVA
and several
smaller AVAs:
Rutherford,
St Helena,
Oakville, 4
Stags Leap,
Yountville

23. Clos du Val
 A Napa Valley icon!
 Founded in 1970; first wines 1972 Cabernet
Sauvignon
 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon competed with
Bordeaux wines in famous 1976 Paris blind
tasting
 Prime vineyards in Stags Leap, (near Yountville)
& Los Carneros

24. 4. Clos du Val Merlot, 2006
 77% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon,
7% Cabernet Franc
 cf Pomerol & St Emilion

25. 4. Clos du Val Merlot 2006
 A consumer’s view:
 Nose: plum and chocolate, cherry and
cinnamon, pepper and a little oak.
 Palate: still a bit tannic, but had chocolate
and cherry, pepper and plum, and a
slightly spicy finish

26. Zinfandel
 Zinfandel is a variety of red grape planted in over 10
percent of California vineyards
 DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically
equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski,
and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown
in Puglia
 The grapes typically produce a robust red wine, although
a semi-sweet rosé (blush-style) wine called White
Zinfandel has six times the sales of the red wine in
the United States
 The grape's high sugar content can be fermented into
levels of alcohol exceeding 15 percent.

27. Today’s 1
wines 4
2 5
7

28. 5. Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine
Zinfandel, 2009
 Joel Petersen founded in 1976
 A champion of Zinfandel
 77% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Syrah
 Sourced from: 97% Lodi, 3% North Coast
 Aging: 18 months French Oak, 30% new
 Skin Contact: 7–9 days of skin contact during
 Native fermentation
 Alcohol: 14.5%
 Drink now, or age another 5–7 years

29. 5. Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine
Zinfandel, 2009
 Aromas and flavours: Dried currants,
spice, plum, and wild berry along with self-
assured, muscular tannins and balanced
acidity
 Unbelievable with lasagna, grilled pepper
steak, or stew

30. 6
3

31. 6. Duck Pond Cellars Cabernet
Sauvignon, 2010
 Duck Pond Cellars is a family winery which owns and
operates 340 acres of vineyards in northern Oregon (for
Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris) and 520 acres in Columbia
River AVA, eastern Washington (for Cabernet
Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot).
 80.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 1.5%
Merlot
 The vines spread their roots through the sand and rock
of the Eastern Washington desert seeking moisture.
 The resulting fruit is produced with great effort and is
extremely concentrated in flavour with rich and ripe
blackcurrant flavours with a backdrop of cedar and
spice.

32. 6. Duck Pond Cellars Cabernet
Sauvignon, 2010
 Colour:
 Aroma:
 Palate: This wine embodies the elements of its creation:
rich and ripe fruit flavours, (current, raisin, cherry & plum)
powerful body and a heady aroma. Great balance lends
the wine to a variety of food pairings; match for intensity.

33. 7. Turner’s Crossing, Cabernet
Sauvignon 2004. Bendigo
 Bendigo, Central Victoria [Loddon River!]
 Selected grapes; matured for 18 months in French oak
Look
 Density of colour?
 Rim?
Aroma
 Vanilla from oak casks
 Blackcurrants, mulberries, plums, pepper, cloves.
Taste
 Full-bodied, huge, rich, fruity with hints of the flavours
of matured red wine:
 leather, game, tar, cigar box, chocolate

35. 8. Quady Winery Elysium Black
Muscat, 2009
 From Madera in the Central Valley.
 Black Muscat is known in Europe as a table grape
variety, Muscat Hamburg, one of the very few black
skinned muscats. If ripened to as sweetness of about 25
brix, it attains a rose-like aroma and lychee-like flavour.
 Elysium is used to either accompany or replace dessert.
It is wonderful with blue cheeses, with desserts
containing red fruits (such as Summer Pudding,, with
vanilla, with dark chocolate, with ice cream desserts.
One favourite is to pour the wine onto vanilla ice cream.

36. Black Muscat grapes

37. 8. Quady Winery Elysium Black
Muscat, 2009
 With nearly 200 g/l residual sugar, this wine is
enormously sweet in honey and black cherry flavours,
balanced by brilliant acidity. For something unusual, try
with a runny cheese, like a soft Gorgonzola.

38. Today’s wines
1. Bonterra, Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino & Lake Co, 2008 £10.99 W
2. Cartlidge and Browne, Chardonnay, North Coast, 2010 £9.50 WS
3. Six Vineyards Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, 2008 £9.50 WS
4. Clos du Val, Merlot, Napa Valley, 2006 £17.95 S
5. Ravenswood, Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, 2009 £8.75 * WS
6. Duck Pond Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia River, WA, 2010
£14.60 S
7. Turner’s Crossing, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bendigo, 2004 £15.00 OZ
8. Quady Winery Elysium, Black Muscat, 2009 [37.5cl] £10.70 *
W Waitrose * Majestic WS Wine Society S Slurp.co.uk OZ OZWINES

39. Aroma test
 Which of today’s wines is this?
 Think of characteristic aromas!

40. Best value
 Which of today’s range offers best value?

41. Next session
Wednesday 13 June 2012
at 2.30pm
Viognier