How our wines differ from the rest

In this quarters newsletter we are featuring an informative article written as a collaboration between Tyler Heck, our winemaker and Nicci Bacigalupi, our Marketing Director. Why are our wines unique? The article gives details about our winemaking program; our methods and the philosophies behind making wines with elegant age-ability.

Why our wines are different from the rest
When guests come for a tasting they are often pleasantly surprised at the flights of wine we offer. “Wow we get to try a 2004 Pinot Noir, that’s great! We’ve only been able to taste 2007 wines.”
I receive many questions from consumers, distributors and restaurants owners who taste our wines, and by far the most common question is: why are you just releasing an older vintage?
The answer this question comes in a few parts. When John Bacigalupi and Tyler Heck first discussed the venture of making wine in 2001 they knew they had to offer something different. With already well known winemaking neighbors such as William Selyem and Rochioli we wanted to offer a wine program that was unique to our consumers.
To do this John and Tyler decided to do both extended barrel and bottle aging. Our first release of Pinot Noir was the 2002 vintage which we released in March of 2004.
Tyler’s wine making program from vineyard to bottle is a slow and meticulous process. Part of his program includes an extended cold soak of the must in the tank. This process is done for approximately 10- 14 days before fermentation when the grapes have just been pumped into the tank. Cold soaking is used to extract tannins at a slower rate and the tank temperature is reduced by using dry ice. From this process we are able to make wines that age in the old world style and much longer than most wines that are out on the market.
By doing this we are able to offer vertical collections including wines from the 2002 vintage. There are hundred of wineries out there and this is just one way we differ from the rest.

Challenging the status quo

It seems like there are wine writers, reviews, judgers and raters galore out there these days frankly, too many to keep up. But recently I read a column from Dan Berger’s Vintage Experience that caught my attention.

As Pinot Noir growers and now producers it seems to be more and more difficult to get some to understand our Pinot Noir program. We grow five different clones of Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley and trust me; they don’t call it the “heartbreak” grape for nothing. Pinot is a not only a difficult grape to grow but also a delicate wine to make.

Our extended ageing program in both barrel and bottle is meant to achieve the goal of releasing a finely aged, mature wine. But yet questions and confusion arise when we announce the release of our 2005 vintage…? While I realize that others are currently selling their 2007 Pinot Noir’s, we prefer that our wines are enjoyed when they are ready to drink, releasing them later then most producers.

I correlate it to the saying “wisdom comes with age.” Not only are older vintages more valuable, their quality is better, therefore creating a better experience for the customer. Wineries pushing out 2007 and 2008 vintages are usually more concerned about adding to their cash flow, but in turn the wine is released to young.

The following is an excerpt written by Dan Berger from his newsletter Vintage Experiences connecting his dilemma with having to judge young wines. Dan writes about one of his judging experiences with the late columnist Jerry Mead;

And then Jerry said, “If they’re going to keep passing laws, they oughta make it illegal to release any Pinot [Noir] until it’s 5 years old.

That thought came to mind this past Tuesday night when I joined with a host of Sonoma County wine makers to blind-taste 12 RRV Pinots from the 2006 vintage.

The conclusion everyone agreed to was that not one of the wines was in any condition to be evaluated. All were too young.

Yet every wine on the table had already been released, and most had been judged by a slick magazine or wine expert six months earlier! Pinot Noir is one grape variety ( and there are others) that simply defies any sort of critical analysis this early.

By age 2 1/2 most quality Pinots are barely old enough to crawl, let alone walk. As for displaying the depth and character of all the complexity that is in the wine, forget it.”

There are some wine writers and critics that touch on this subject but in my opinion, not as many that should.  Remembering that winemakers and producers are dealing with a living, breathing, ever changing entity helps to put things in perspective. While our reasons for releasing an older vintage when the market is flooded with new releases may be confusing to some, we stand by our philosophy and will continue to swim against the tide. After all, what’s life without a challenge?

Free the SO2

Taking barrels samples is an important and ongoing process in the world of winemaking. As the wine progresses and changes over time it is vital to consistently keep a close watch on the state of each barrel and additionally, the lot as a whole. Today we took samples of all the 2008 vintages mostly looking for levels of free SO2. Free SO2 or free sulfur protects the wine from oxidation and remains an invaluable tool for inhibiting bacteria that otherwise might spoil wine. Locally we use Vinquiry for all our wine analysis. They are quick with results and very friendly to work with. While sampling for SO2 this also gives us the opportunity to taste the lots combined to get an idea of how the wine is developing. The following are the notes from this barrel sampling.

2008 Pinot Noir Free Run, 20 barrels- At this time the wine shows a supple texture which is difficult to come by with a young Pinot Noir. You tend to get all the viscosity and weight but loose all the varietal character of the fruit. We tend to extend cap time by controlling the temperature for a long, cool fermentation

2008 Pinot Noir Free Run in T-bins, 9 barrels- We added 5 tons of whole clusters for fermentation. The whole berries lend themselves to letting you hold onto the carbonic maceration, adding more fruit character. This wine has a little sharper edge to the finish from slightly higher acid.

2008 Pinot Noir Press Wine, 2 barrels-We barrel the press wine separately from the free run so I can blend appropriately. This wine is progressing very well with good weight and nice fruit. It will assimilate nicely with the free run juice.

2008 Zinfandel Free Run, 12 barrels- What I love most about our Zinfandel is that it is technically dry (no residual sugar) but it doesn’t appear to be so when you first taste it. We are also producing a 100% Zinfandel, single vineyard designate designed to showcase the true varietal characteristic.

2008 Zinfandel Press Wine, 2 barrels- Great fruit, good acid and tannin

2008 Petite Sirah Free Run, 5 barrels- This is our inaugural vintage and what I like best about this wine is it’s incredibly balanced, already at an early stage. The trick with PS is finding the right balance between tannin and acid. Additionally like all well made wines it has a deep and vibrant color.

Top of the morning

This morning I went down to the cellar to top our 2008 Pinot Noir. They are trudging through malolactic fermentation at this time. The cold weather is slowing this process down a little but we are almost there. Topping is extremely important and with our strict barrel regime I check the barrels for topping every week. The amount of topping we do changes dramatically depending on weather, humidity and wine loss through evaporation. Topping ensures that we inhibit oxidation in the wine.
I am especially looking forward to getting the rest of the lots of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah racked and barreled so I can evaluate their progress. The 08 Zinfandel this year I feel is one of the best wines that I have made thus far. It is one of the most complete and balanced wines with virtually no drawbacks.
The Petite Sirah is looking good as well, as will be racking it for the last time this week before we start to barrel age it for the next 12-16 months. During those months I will be sampling the wines to track their progress. I am looking for them to start forming structure and balance. You can be sure I will be monitoring them carefully!

Winemaker’s journal

Tyler taking barrel samples

As winemaker for a small, family run winery we often encounter problems that the big guys don’t have to worry about. Because of our boutique production we get a limited amount of chances to get things right. We get two opportunities to make great Pinot with the focus on the two clones; Wente and Pommard. We get one chance to make great Zinfandel and one chance to make great Petite Sirah. We use no bulk wine, no 2nd crop and no blending. We are 100% estate grown, produced and vineyard designated.

What we say on the bottle is what’s in the bottle!

I take pride in the fact that we do all the work ourselves. Topping, sampling and maintaining our strict barrel regime is always high on my list as far as priorities.  Right now I am focused on barreling down the Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. I have to say that the Zinfandel is looking excellent and am convinced it will be the best vintage of Zinfandel that I have made so far. The wood that we got this year is phenomenal and I am looking forward to seeing how the wines will change overtime.

John Tyler Wines Pinot Noir

John Tyler Pinot Noir

Our family has always held a special place in our hearts for the Pinot Noir grape. Back in 1956 my grandfather–Charles Bacigalupi–took the advice of then University of California farm adviser Bob Sisson to plant Pinot in the Russian River Valley. Before this my grandfather had never heard of the Pinot grape and said he had to write the name down to keep from forgetting it.

He obtained the original budwood from Karl Wente and planted 14 acres. Today we farm 5 different clones of Pinot Noir and my dad will tell you that Pinot is definitely the hardest grape to grow. Its thin skin makes it more susceptible to mold and frost and picking must be done by hand.

We are fortunate that the Russian River provides the ideal growing condition and, despite the difficulties Pinot still remains our family’s favorite and most cherished varietal.  Carrying on my grandfather’s vision for this grape we produced our first vintage of Pinot Noir under the John Tyler label in 2002.