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Chukan Brown: California should focus on high acid whites
While Chardonnay remains the darling of the California white wine scene, winemakers in the Golden State should be focusing on high acid whites, according to wine educator Elaine Chukan Brown.
Wine writer and educator Elaine Chukan Brown is impressed by the breadth of Chardonnay styles in Sonoma
Speaking to db during a recent trip to California, wine writer and educator Chukan Brown said: “California would do well to focus on high acid whites, and white Rhône varieties like Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier.
“People are looking for new areas to make California wine and are asking what it means to make California wines with interest. Winemakers are experimenting with lesser-known white varieties like Vermentino because the grape prices are cheaper.
In terms of the differences between Napa and Sonoma Chardonnay, Chukan Brown believes Sonoma produces more restrained expressions.
High acid white varieties like Vermentino are the way forward for California winemakers, believes wine writer and educator Elaine Chukan Brown
“Sonoma Chardonnay is not as full-blown and rich as Napa Chard, but has that respect for richness.
“There is a much broader range of Chardonnay styles in Sonoma now. The region’s very cool sites produce quite lean and bony styles if you like that kind of thing,” she said.
“Until the 1980s, California winemakers made all whites as if they were Riesling. Then Hanzell Vineyards came along and encouraged things like texture, malolactic fermentation and barrel ageing in whites,” she added.
As for the California Pinot Noir phenomenon, Chukan Brown said that it’s easy to forget how recent its rise to prominence has been.
“California Pinot Noir is insanely popular now, people forget how recent the phenomenon is – it only really kicked off in the 1990s after Williams Selyem in Healdsburg put California Pinot on the map in the 1980s.
“People are much more thoughtful now when it comes to making California Pinot, and are doing one punchdown a day when it used to be protocol to do it every three hours. The wines are much less extracted than they used to be,” she said.
“In California’s mountain Pinots you’ll find a conifer evergreen freshness, but there are certain parts of California where the growing conditions encourage bigger Pinots with more compaction in the fruit.
“De-stemmed Pinot is popular for smoothness, but there is also a lot of experimentation going on with whole cluster ferments for an added structural element. You can find excellent examples of both styles,” she added.
Hanzell “came along” in the nineteen-FIFTIES, and not in the 1980s as Ms. Brown is quoted as saying in the above article. So, too, is she way off when it comes to the rise of California Pinot Noir. Certainly André Tchlistcheff and Louis Martini proved that great Pinot Noirs could be produced as early as the late-1940s, as did Hanzell and Martin Ray did in the 1950s. In the mid-1970s and early-1980s, any number of excellent quality Pinots came out of wineries such as Mount Eden Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, and David Bruce (Santa Cruz Mountains); Carneros Creek, Bouchaine, Acacia, and others (Napa/Sonoma); and Sanford & Benedict, Au Bon Climat, Ojai Vineyards, HMR, and others in Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo area. But as good as any or all of these wines were — including Williams-Seylem — interest in California Pinot Noir had NOTHING to do with ANY of these things… Interest in CA Pinot Noir did not TRULY took-off until 15 years ago, when the movie “Sidways” was released in 2004!
Hi Jason,
Yes, the work of these producers you mention is so important. This article is written based on a question and answer period following a seminar I gave on Sonoma wine where people asked about current trends and where they implied California wine might focus in the future. Since we were talking about current issues, and the context of the seminar was focused on Sonoma, my response looked only briefly at the history of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the state. My point was exactly as you say – that Pinot has been here for quite a long time (since the last 1800s) but that the popularity we take for granted now is very recent. Great to see your passion for all these California producers! Their work has been integral to the history of California wine, and the pleasure of wine lovers both.
Elaine
Hi Jason,
The history of wine, and the producers you mention are so important to California wine. The article is written in response to a question and answer period following a seminar I gave looking specifically at Sonoma wine. The comments mentioned here in this article come from part of the Q&A period that was specifically about current trends, and where those might mean California wine is headed. Since the discussion was looking only at current trends, and the seminar specifically about Sonoma, I kept my response about more recent history and didn’t discuss the full depth of either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay in the state. My point though was just what you are saying – that Pinot Noir has been in California for a LONG time (since the late 1800s) but that the popularity we take for granted now is very recent. It’s great to see your passion for these various historic producers! They are so integral to the history and quality of California wine.
Cheers!
Elaine