Vinfolio Blog

Back in early July, I decided to visit Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the epicenter of Pinot Noir for the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been through Oregon’s wine country several times, but an extensive tasting tour was long overdue since my last visit, when I attended Oregon Pinot Camp. That experience really opened my eyes to how effective Willamette Valley vintners were in sharing knowledge with the common goal of making great wines. I visited a total of 22 wineries in 4 days, and I have to say that I was quite impressed with quality across the price spectrum from the difficult and hot 2006 vintage, to the cooler 2007 that were tasted out of barrel.

During the course of my tasting appointments with owners and winemakers, it was hard not to draw comparisons to California Pinot. For Pinot Noir purists, one must raise the question: Which American region comes out on top for overall quality, Willamette Valley or California? This is a loaded question, but I welcome your thoughts and comments. No disrespect to the California Pinot producers that I have supported over the years, but as a community, Willamette Valley Pinot producers are setting a national precedent for Pinot enthusiasts and producers.

The evidence is in the glass!

Why put Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on a pedestal?

•    The 45th parallel cuts through the Willamette Valley just north of Salem. The Willamette has more daylight hours during the key periods of late March to late September allowing for extra-long days in the summer months in comparison to the Northern and Central Coast of California. Longer daylight hours, combined with cooler conditions lead to a long period of flavor development by the time of harvest.

•    Unique Site Location. The Willamette Valley has a complex series of soils not seen throughout other parts of the West. Oregon was created by the collision of the Pacific Plate with the North American Plate almost 200 million years ago. http://www.oregonwine.org/Explore_Wine_Regions/Willamette_Valley/Willamette_Valley/

•    Over twenty years ago, two international tasting events recognized the quality of Oregon Pinot Noir. In Paris, in 1979, Gault-Millau sponsored an Olympiad of wine. Eyrie’s 1975 South Block Reserve, scored in the top ten. In 1985, the N.Y. International Wine Center held a “Burgundy Challenge” to compare the same number of Oregon Pinot Noir to Burgundy. The experts couldn’t distinguish Oregon’s efforts from Burgundy, and the top five scoring wines were from Oregon.

•    In 1983, Oregon growers and producers elected to tax themselves at the highest rate in world. These funds have been instrumental to conduct viticultural research and effective marketing programs that continues today.

•    French Dijon clones favored for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production first arrived in the West via Oregon State University, initiating the first studies with these cool climate clones.

•    Oregon has lead the way for inviting Pinot Noir producers from around the world to Oregon to candidly share observations, discoveries, philosophies and vineyard practices.

     o    The Annual Summer Steamboat Conference in Southern Oregon
     o    International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville, considered the world’s first wine forum.

•    Oregon has been in the forefront of the Biodynamic movement.
     o    Oregon was the first American region to be certified by the International Office of Biological  Control (IOBC). Certification endorses LIVE, a non-profit Oregon corporation, with the authority to certify Oregon vineyards.

I watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony Friday night, in rare TV communion with the rest of the world, and found myself gob-smacked, as we say in NZ. I expected that. I did not expect to feel moved. China is unfolding to the world with a mix of bravado and hope that the rest of the world will like them. They are trying so hard. I, for one, have enormous admiration and growing affection for them. Their society is transforming in front of their own eyes and ours, and although that transformation is uneven, they are on the right path and deserve our support. 

How does that segue away into wine? Easily, everyone’s doing it. The emergence of China as a producer and consumer of wine is fundamentally altering the wine market. That is old news. Vinfolio is expanding to Hong Kong, so are several auction houses, the Bordelaise set up camp there long ago, and even Mr Parker has made his inaugural visit there (that was news to me, as read in Mike Steinberger’s great blog about China on Slate.com. As a wine producer, my only experience of China was at a blind tasting with friends on a recent visit home to NZ. As I recall my notes read something like: “Bordeaux blend, possibly French, pretty fruit, a little smoky, dry finish, something like a Fronsac? 1997?” It turned out to be the 2005 Deep Blue from Grace Vineyard in Shanxi. That’s the thing about blind tastings. The wine always wins. Would I buy this particular wine again? Not at $60 a bottle, but I would at $15. Harlan & Co. can rest easy at the top of the price pyramid for now. 

As a consumer, China is gladdening the hearts of winemakers all over the world, if not the wallets of wine drinkers. Yes, at the high end of the market the Chicken Littles are right - “The price are soaring! The prices are soaring!”. But across the spectrum of wine quality, greater demand will ensure that smaller producers survive and prosper, providing us all with greater choice. If Lafite disappears into the stratosphere, another wine will take its place, in the market if not in our hearts, and from an entirely unexpected place. Hawkes Bay, anyone? Seriously, right now, my advice would be to buy Lafite while you still can, because the demand for Lafite in China is out of all proportion to its place in the wine world. By an amazing coincidence, Vinfolio has several vintages of Lafite in stock. Grab ‘em while you can. Or enjoy those “other” 1st growths in relative peace, if you’re not convinced that Lafite is the one wine to rule them all.