2003 Tantara pinot noir, Santa Maria Valley, Alc14.5%

The last time I met this wine, Bill Cates introduced me to her while she was still living in the Francois Freres' groundfloor apartment, where she stayed cooler and close at hand. It was like meeting a movie star in her housecoat, ciggy dangling from pursed lips, hair dishevelled and some undefined hound yipping at the ankles. You knew you were in the presence of something special but you needed to see her in all her glory. Then tantaraaaa (a la Gilbert and Sullivan) she enters the main stage. A flattering smokey green number with a silver bodice barely covering the facts. Exiting the limo is a quiet confidence, no hints of alcohol on the breath, nor a trace of the kitchen smokefest. A lot of recently tasted pinots submit to the wood under pressure, but not this beauty. Zesty, fruity, youthful, bright, cheery, clean with a full mouth. What else do you need?

We can look at '03 as a problem year for many, a very windy February, almost late frost, long grey summer, late spike, haphazard harvest, it was as if the accountants stepped in to manage the crush and got in the way. Reports were of a 30% success rate (70% failure) with a loss of over $7 million over the previous year.

While the loss was felt heavily across the board, this quiet release by Bill is proof of survival of the fittest. It has been three hours since I opened it to have with dinner, about two hours ago and I'm thinking about having it with some cheese and blueberry jam on some plain wheat biscuits. The problem is the youthful spring on the tip of the tongue that is not ready to come in yet, it's as if it is still breathing inside me. There are at least eight legs on the label alone yet they are still running all over the place even while the finish on the palate has yet to reach the finishing line on its own. This is a wine that was determined to be made, nothing watery about this glass of juice.

The county statistics report an increase in yield per acre and a return to pre '03 levels. A price spike was expected for this vintage but again you can still pick it up for around $30. Fans of J. Wilkes won't be disappointed, "sideways" fans will be left gasping.

I'm equally grateful to Tina Nordholm for dragging me out to that road off Bettaravia one cold and chilly morning. My first taste of Bien Nacido was the same feeling you have when you first see Indiana Jones riding his horse through the Gates of Jerash, you can't appreciate how awesome the terrain is until you have experienced it in person, almost classical but without the sarcophogi on the hillsides. I too would invade Gaul to own this juice, a classic, in the literary sense.

An obvious restriction of building space but a willingness to share the goodness of the juice more than compensates the winemakers lucky enough to ferment these berries, I'd give a permit to have at least 30% Bien Nacido on the label of any wine whose juice is grown there.

It doesn't mean that 100% Bien Nacido being the optimum makes a better wine either though. Though it is interesting to detect Solomon Hills is influenced by the same managers of the land.

Cheers


February 22 2006