John Martin’s wine tip of the month
BY JOHN MARTIN
PVF industry veteran
Hello Friends,
I hope this finds you all up and running at full speed for the month of June, 2011! Even in these tough times we have a lot to be thankful for! Would you rather live anywhere else in the world but America? I sure don’t think so! It is the best, no matter how you cut it or measure it. Pure and simple, God Bless America!
I thought that the “Corner” this month should be “fun & happy” — and all about wine! After all, this country of ours is known for some of the great wines of the world. My company has had a pretty good run for the first six months of the calendar year of 2011, and generally speaking, I think most of you have, so let’s take a break and have a bottle or two of some of your favorite “medicine” and talk about what makes up a great fruit-growing region.
First of all, in this issue, I’d like to address Pinot Noir. Why? Actually, I am still working on acquiring a taste myself for it, much the same as I do when I get a great bottle of “blended” style red table wine. Remember how I rather quickly explained about “blended” in my first wine tip of the month a couple issues back? Well, the Pinot Noir varietal has been around for a long time, and everyone that loves it tells me that searching for that special bottle of Pinot deserves some time and attention. I love a wine challenge, so for a couple years now, I have been really attempting to do just that, and have been pretty pleased with the grape and its rendered nectar! Note below the Pinot Noir story that follows — as told by “Martin’s Corner!”
Over the years, as Napa Valley (California) was growing into what it has become today, Pinot indeed was grown and offered all along, but it never made the headlines against other country offerings like our wonderful Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, top-notch blends, and wonderful white wines did. Without question, the #1 place in my opinion to grow and produce a great Pinot Noir is the state of Oregon in the good old USA! The best place to drink it of course is whereever you find it for sale!
You see the pioneers of the (famous in a lot of peoples minds) Oregon Pinot Noir were actually emigrants from California. Three fellows by the names of Coury, Lett and Ponzi headed north to Oregon in the 1960s when the thrust of the California wine industry was Cabernet and very little Pinot Noir. In fact, there were only five premium wineries in Napa Valley during that time. (My, my, how things change, huh?). One of the three, Dick Ponzi had been searching in California for suitable sites for growing the Pinot fruit, including the Anderson Valley, but found land prices much too steep. In the 1970s time frame, Bill Blosser, Gary Andurs and a few other men opened up four different wineries in Oregon after looking around for land in California as well. Priced too steep as well, they made the trip to Oregon. Another strong prevailing reason these prospective wine producers made the move was that all the California producers emphasized the use of pumps, filters and other technology suitable for many varietals, but undesirable for Pinot Noir! Something had to be done to start producing great Pinot Noir much the same as does Burgundy (France). Well, that was a challenge.
In 1981, Oregon began a meeting called the Steamboat Conference with the original intention of sharing information between winemakers from Oregon and California. This conference WAS NOT open to consumers or wine writers. The Burgundians who began attending this event quickly created the better and lasting impressions on these Oregon winemakers. A fellow by the name of Robert Drouhin from Beaune, France, had visited Oregon in the late 1970s, and a few years later purchased 180 prime acres in the Dundee Hills of the state. There he built a French inspired winery called Domaine Drouhin Oregon (DDO) modeled after his very successful winery in France by the name of Domaine Drouhin. Since then, the Oregonians and the Burgundians have been very close in business, wine making, and friendships. You see, Oregon has a ton in common with Burgundy in France. The mid-point of the Willamette Valley in Oregon as an example lies 45 degrees north latitude, the exact same as Burgundy Cote d’Or. Vintages in Oregon tend to be much like the vintages in Burgundy. Oregon wineries tend to be small, family operated businesses, just like in Burgundy.
The Pinot Noir Dijon clones were first brought to the United States by workers at Oregon State University who had a close working relationship with the Burgundians. Actually the Pinot Noir grape (not French clones) in Oregon goes back as far as 1828. California had them to, but when the modern era of the wine industry was ushered into California (about 1961), the “Pinot” and Riesling growers followed David Lett to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, about 150 miles to the north.
Now, the modern era of Pinot Noir in Oregon started in 1965 actually. This fellow David Lett seems to be the key man (known as Papa Pinot) getting most all the credit for the success of the modern era of the Pinot Noir Varietal here in the U.S. At the age of 25, he planted the first of 3,000 vine cuttings in the Dundee Hills of Oregon. In 1970 (one year after Woodstock) this wine-making “Hippie” sold a few hundred cases of his new product, calling it “Oregon Spring Wine” for $2.65 per bottle! With that, the Oregon Pinot Noir wine era was off and running! If you don’t believe so, go check out a few of the prices on great vintages of Pinot Noir!
Growing and production in Oregon alone has gone thru the roof in the past ten years. Pinot Noir is the most widely planted grape by far, and accounting for almost 50.0% of all case sales in Oregon is Pinot Noir. There were some 13,000 acres of grape harvested in 2006 as an example, and about 9,000 of those were Pinot Noir! Amazing! The growth and production of Pinot Noir continues to rise and gets better with each year's Vintage it seems.
Today, the rules and regulations that apply to Pinot as well as all others are very strict, and certified. If the label says Pinot Noir, you can believe it is 100% Pinot Noir. If it is truly Pinot you can also believe that it is produced exclusively in French Oak Barrels (at least in Oregon), both new and old.
There is so much more to say about Pinot Noir, but the best way to know more is to go do some wine tasting. It is a great way to meet new and interesting friends. To me, people in general are thirsty for wine knowledge and to know enough to talk about. You can put me in that group of folks. I love talking about it, and along the way you pick enough knowledge to help someone out of making a bad decision about a bottle of wine, or if you get to cocky with your new found knowledge, you will have few friends, but more knowledge about wine. That is not a good thing! You want to share, but not force someone to pay attention to all you have to say. At the end of the day my friends, I can tell if whatever varietal I may be tasting or enjoying, I usually can tell if it good wine or bad wine. Having said that also, it is still in the end what your mouth and taste buds tell you the consumer about what the value of the grape is to you! Everyone is different; that is why knowing some of what goes on behind the scene or how the past looked, is helpful. As an example, reference white wine: I do not love Chardonnay. Just don’t particularly like the taste on my tongue. After really getting into a lot of information in Napa and reading, what I found out was that being able to age Chardonnay in either steel or wood makes a real difference. Any white wine aged completely in steel has the taste I do not like. In wood is a different story. Chardonnay is still not my favorite, but Sauvignon Blanc aged in wood is a real good thing! It is all about taste first, then looking for the right bottle.
In closing the wine info for today: While I’d love you all to believe that I just pull all this information out of my head, it is not true. Some of it? Yes, of course, but as I have the need or desire, I go to the websites of various places to gather information, or refer to a lot of my books on the matter. Bottom line is wanting to know or maybe it is just interesting to know, I have a lot of fun with it, and I do learn. I also enjoy sharing with you all (as a break) more than just a paragraph about wine at the end of my articles on industry.
Thanks a lot for reading and if you do consume wine — or any other adult beverage — please drink responsibly. Your precious life and the lives of others will always be at stake. Let me know anytime you have a question about wine or anything else that I can or could be of help and support to you on. I’m only a phone call or an e-mail away. Remember: “Man cannot live by bread alone — he must have good ‘wine’ — and chocolate!”
See ya next month in “The Corner!”
— John
Born Johnney E Martin in Venus, Texas in 1944, he is one of nine children raised 100% on a cotton and grain farm that his father share-cropped. After high school, Martin went into the Army and then Reserves. From there he joined what was then Grinnell Co. in 1968 and has been with them every day of his life since then through four different owners, now Anvil International, A Unit Of Mueller Water Products. He currently serves as vice president of national account sales for the Anvil Mechanical Unit. Holding various sales and management positions for the company over the years, Martin has received numerous industry and association awards and has been involved with industry education foundation boards, and the Board of Directors of both asa and mcaa. Martin currently resides in Castle Rock, Colo., with his wife Kathy of 27 years; they have a daughter Kayla who is 25 years old. He is committed to staying involved in the plumbing and pvf industry (which he loves) for many years to come.