California must think small to be great

Californian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers may no longer be trying to ape Burgundy’s style, but there is a growing belief that they must recreate the small-scale vineyard structure of the Côte d’Or to reach the same quality heights.

Alex Moreau and Jeremy Seysses defend Burgundy’s position during the debate.

Speaking at a “Burgundy vs California” debate during UK merchant Flint Wines’ portfolio tasting in London this week, Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac highlighted the closely defined premier and grand cru configuration of Burgundy as he maintained: “California with its AVAs will never be able to do that.”

Jim Varner of the Santa Cruz Mountains estate that shares his name acknowledged the issue, saying: “There just aren’t as many parcels and the vineyards tend to be bigger.”

He also drew a contrast with the continuous limestone escarpment that defines the Côte d’Or, observing: “The soil in California is really lifted up so there’s probably not more than two acres of the same soil in one place.”

Nevertheless, Varner confirmed that a number of Californian estates, including his own, are narrowing their focus towards creating wine from smaller, more carefully defined parcels.

“Most Californian winemakers aren’t trying to emulate Burgundy,” he commented. “We’re taking the Burgundian model of respecting terroir and applying that to our own place. People are finally paying attention to places that have taste and terroir – and those are the hardest places to grow grapes so they were often the only areas left.”

Using his own operation as an example, Varner remarked: “We have three Pinot Noirs from three vineyards and each one is totally different. That’s all down to place.”

Ronan Sayburn MS moderates while Gavin Chanin and Jim Varner speak up for California

Another project in this vein is Lutum, meaning “dirt” in Latin, a joint venture between Bill Price, who owns a stake in high profile Californian producer Kistler, and Gavin Chanin, who set up Chanin Wine Company in Santa Barbara in 2007 after working at estates such as Qupé and Au Bon Climat.

Suggesting that it was only a matter of time before California caught up with the highly defined Burgundian model, Chanin predicted: “In 100 years time we will have identified a lot of great soil types.”

However, Varner maintained that it would be impossible for such a step to take place at an official classification level, as is the case in Burgundy. “California is at a point now where sub-appellations cannot happen; there’s too much at stake,” he remarked.

Citing the “dog fight” that surrounded the recent sub-division of 11 new AVAs created for Paso Robles last year, and against the backdrop of lawsuits surrounding St Emilion’s own reclassification effort, Varner observed: “Land is just too valuable now, especially in Napa.”

Even in Burgundy, Seysses suggested that, for all its detail, the appellation system still presented challenges, especially in the case of larger grand cru appellations such as Charmes Chambertin or Clos de Vougeot. “There may be 100 producers there so you find sometimes that there’s a ceiling of perception for a wine because of the average level,” he commented.

Using another example particularly pertinent to Domaine Dujac’s own holdings, Seysses argued: “Clos St Denis is every bit as good a vineyard as Clos de la Roche, but again you’re working with the average quality there.”

Likewise, while Chambolle Musigny and Gevrey Chambertin prices benefit from the high profile names based in these villages, Morey St Denis between the two does not enjoy the same acclaim.

“Morey St Denis trades for 30% less than Chambolle or 50% of Gevrey, but it’s not 50% worse than Gevrey,” insisted Seysses in a further indication that even Burgundy’s system is imperfect.

Gearoid Devaney MS of Flint Wines, highlighted the importance of a small-scale approach when this Burgundy specialist moved to expand its portfolio in the direction of other Pinot Noir and Chardonnay-focused regions such as California.

“Within the estates we’re working with there’s a real push towards looking at different vineyards and sites, which in Burgundy has been historically happening for some time,” he remarked.

Looking ahead to the future development of this ethos in California, Devaney suggested that it would come down to individual producers rather than a generic-level effort. “The AVA system is a joke but within estates you’re going to see it’s single vineyards that are important,” he concluded.