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The Grapevine
A local pinot specialist follows his instincts
By Laurie Daniel
Special to the Tribune
Mike Sinor is showing me the lay of the land at Aubaine Vineyard in the Arroyo Grande Valley appellation. He's clearly excited about the potential of this roughly 14-acre pinot noir vineyard that's only about four miles from the Pacific, although the fog is in so we can't see the water.
Aubaine Vineyard, owned by Bob McHolland, has rolling terrain with different exposures, and Sinor says he gets fruit from the most northern, eastern and western parts of the vineyard. "I wanted blocks as different as possible for blending," he says, to build complexity in the wine.
Pinot specialist Sinor, who helped put Domaine Alfred in the Edna Valley on the map during his nearly six years there as winemaker, is now devoting all his energies to his own small label, Sinor-LaVallee. He and his wife, Cheri LaVallee Sinor, started their brand in 1997 while he was working at Byron Vineyard and Winery in the Santa Maria Valley. In 2004, they stepped up production (although production is still only about 400 cases), and last May, Sinor left Domaine Alfred to concentrate on Sinor-LaVallee. It was an amicable parting.
The Domaine Alfred wines tend to be big, smack-you-in-the-face wines, although most of them are well-balanced and true to type. The pinot noir, for example, would never be described as delicate, but it still tastes like pinot.
That style, Sinor says, "is based on (owner) Terry Speizer." Speizer is an outgoing guy, a natural salesman, who likes things big. Sinor says Speizer wants "big, extractive wines that are (influential) with national critics." Sinor clearly carried out that vision, as evidenced by some recent reviews — two weeks after he gave notice last spring at Domaine Alfred, the winery's Califa pinot noir got a huge score from Wine Spectator.
But, he adds, "the style that I drink is a lot different." He says he prefers a more traditional, elegant style of pinot.
That is reflected in Sinor's pinots under the Sinor-LaVallee label. The wines have no shortage of concentration, but they're also pretty and elegant. The 2004 Aubaine Vineyard pinot ($35) is dark and well- balanced, with rich cherry flavors and good structure. It's muscular yet pretty. The 2004 pinot from Talley Rincon Vineyard ($35) has warmer-toned fruit, nice spice and a lovely suppleness.
Sinor wants his vineyard sources to be expressed in his wines, giving each a distinctive personality. Having blends that all taste the same, Sinor says, is "what keeps me awake at night."
He also makes a tiny amount of a pinot noir that uses 100 percent whole- cluster fermentation (meaning that the grapes are not destemmed), a technique used in Burgundy but a rarity in California. It's called Anniversary Cuvee, and it can taste a little vegetal in its youth. But the current release, the 2004 ($40), has shed that greenness, and it's rich, supple and elegant.
There's also a 2005 pinot gris ($18) from Byron Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley that's fresh, crisp and very slightly creamy, with flavors of citrus and white peach and just a touch of minerality. And there's a 2003 Ryan Road Vineyard Syrah ($24) from Paso Robles that's smoky and a little gamy, with blackberry fruit, a hint of white pepper and firm tannins.
Sinor has some other projects in the works that he doesn't want to talk about. As for Sinor-LaVallee, the plan is to grow to no more than 500 cases a year. Or, as he puts it: "very small amounts of wine that are very personal to us."
"It's that dream we saw in Burgundy," he says.
If you want to taste the Sinor-LaVallee wines, the Sinors will be pouring them from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 1 at Great Gatsby's Wine, 1750 El Camino Real, Grover Beach; (805) 473-VINO. To get on the winery's mailing list, go to www.sinorlavallee.com.
Laurie Daniel writes a weekly column on wine.
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E-mail her at ladaniel@earthlink.net.
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