Helen of Oy
Dr. Vino posted an item on his blog last week about the latest newsletter from California’s Marcassin Vineyard. Marcassin is the pet project of famed consulting winemaker Helen Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer and has won rapturous praise from Robert Parker for its Sonoma Coast pinot noirs and chardonnays. The newsletter recounts a tasting that Turley and Wetlaufer did with Parker, in which their 2006s supposedly humiliated two heavyweight ringers from Burgundy, the 2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche and the 2006 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet (there is no indication that the wines were tasted blind, so I assume they weren’t). Using this “victory” as their jumping-off point, Turley and Wetlaufer then launch into a disquisition on Burgundian viticulture, the gist of which is that the Burgundians are incompetent farmers who don’t obtain sufficiently ripe fruit because they mismanage their vines. Once you are done lifting your jaw off the floor, you should read this remarkable document, which really ought to have been titled Notes From a Parallel Universe (and be sure not to skip the endnotes!). Needless to say, the Marcassin missive has caused a stir, both for its off-the-charts hubris and its bizarro claims.
During my years of scribbling about wine, I’ve had two dealings with Turley. The first was back in 2000; I was heading to California, was thinking of doing a story about the suddenly very fashionable Sonoma Coast, and called her to request an appointment. She initially agreed, but then backed out a few days before we were due to meet. She had evidently discovered that I was friendly with a winemaker whom she disliked, and she no longer wished to see me. She left a rambling phone message telling me in a quivering, agitated voice that she was cancelling and that I couldn’t possibly do my story without her cooperation and input. Le Sonoma Coast, c’est moi. I ended up not doing the story, but only because of some scheduling conflicts. At any rate, my first experience of “the Wine Goddess,” as Parker calls her, was a memorable one.
A year later, I was back in California, attending a food and wine festival in Carmel that happened to include a tasting of Marcassin led by Turley and Wetlaufer. I was among the 25 or so people who took part in the tasting, which featured a dozen wines—6 chardonnays and 6 pinots. After the event ended, I went up to Turley, introduced myself, and reminded her of our aborted meeting. She didn’t look terribly happy to see me but gamely made some small talk. I also spent several minutes chatting with Wetlaufer, who didn’t exude much warmth himself but was a bit more forthcoming. When he asked what I thought of the wines, I decided to fib rather than insult him: I said that they were impressive. The terseness with which I responded probably gave me away, but so be it.
In fact, the wines were terrible. The whites were typically overblown California chardonnays—too ripe, too fat, too oaky. They were charmless and exhausting. But the Marcassin pinots were in their own special category of vileness. These were cloying, completely disjointed wines that exhibited almost no varietal character. For a moment, I found myself wondering, only partially in jest, if Turley had mistakenly bottled her Martinelli zinfandels in the Marcassin bottles. The pinots were hideous confections, their inadequacy underscored by a vertical tasting of Domaine Dujac’s brilliant Clos de la Roche that was held the same weekend. I was fairly new to wine writing at the time, and I recall being shocked that Parker had compared one of the Marcassin pinots to a Clos de la Roche. Looking back, I think this was the moment I first began to question the whole Parker thing. It was bad enough that he thought so highly of these execrable wines, but to liken one of them to a Clos de la Roche? Apart from being derived from the same grape, the Marcassin pinots had nothing in common with red Burgundies. Sure, taste is subjective, but this was like comparing, oh, peanut butter to lobster—it made no sense.
Parker posted a lengthy comment on eBob regarding the Marcassin controversy. I won’t reproduce his remarks in full here, not least because every time I read one of his posts, I hear the voice of Keith Olbermann doing his Bill O’Reilly-as-Ted Baxter riff, and I then can’t get it out of my head. Parker tried to strike a tone of reasonableness, saying that people should consider Turley and Wetlaufer’s remarks in a “fair and responsible manner.” Of course, this was two sentences after he called Romanée-Conti fans “sycophants and apologists,” which was preceded by his claim that “the Burgundians have refused to change anything for several hundred years,” a statement so comically asinine that it ought to disqualify Parker from ever being taken seriously again on the subject of Burgundy. In fact, he should do himself a favor and no longer comment on Burgundy. He is clearly nursing a grudge on account of having become persona non grata there, and Burgundy’s soaring popularity, which represents the triumph of an aesthetic far different from his own, is apparently only adding to the bitterness. He simply cannot resist taking potshots at Burgundy and Burgundy enthusiasts. It’s kind of pathetic, and he should give it a rest.
Larry K., I think that you have too LITTLE free time, not too much! And you hit the nail on the head. Several times in the past, Parker has suggested, to paraphase Steve Miller, that he was a joker and a smoker and a midnight toker. But I do not believe that anybody ever called him Maurice because he speaks of the pompitous of love. But he has made up a lot of meaningless words like “pompitous”, and in fact, describes wines with them!
McCallum, they told me that you were dead. Good to see that you are alive and well, posting with all of us smart people on The Wine Diarist and enjoying your merde croque monsieur!
Not sure, why you would even waste your time on California Pinot Noir, unless you called up Porter Bass, Old World Winery, Scribe, El Molino, or Littorai….with few exceptions, these wines ARE AVAILABLE NOW…go get ‘em.
If you want value and you want to enjoy something a bit closer to Burgundy…you should cut your teeth on Oregon Pinot Noir. Here you will find value, complexity, and most of a quality.
Arrogance, inflated egos and delusion of grandeur. Absolutely.
Pot calling the kettle black? Definitely!
Dan M, thanks for giving me a good laugh (the shit sandwich line has had me laughing all day). Turley and Wetlaufer have done very nicely making wines that cater to Parker and Laube, as have the various wineries that have employed their services. It will be interesting to see what the Galloni era brings.
Dan P, I am fully intending to stop by your store soon, not least so we can have a glass and kiss and make up. Thanks for stopping by here, and glad you enjoyed the post. “Arrogance” is the exact right word. But as I said earlier today, I am confident Burgundy will be flourishing long after Marcassin is a forgotten name.
Helen Turley DID make Turley wine, initial year only, 1994. Turley winery is actually located in Napa Valley, Calistoga. The one in Paso is a fairly recent addition when they bought out Pesenti winery and vineyard.
So far I have yet to try a Marcassin Pinot that tasted “terrible”. They may not be in Top 10 in Cali year in and year out, but to call them “terrible” indicates that one either has an agenda or needs to buy a palate.
On green or rather underripe Burgundy fruit. One needs to only casually look at some photos available every year as harvest takes place in Burgundy to understand that YES, they do pick underripe (green berries anyone?, and plenty at that, something one never sees in Cali or rather, their growing techniques do need an update. This also manifests itself in the required need for the wines to age to make sure these underripe, green and harsh tannins soften and fall out. But all of this is easily understood by those ITB, sadly our wine blogging community seems to have absolutely no notion of what wine is and how it is made. And yet bloggers have no qualms of making some ridiculous statements based on cluelessness. BTW, is it only my memory or can someone remind me why, if Burgundians know how to grow and make wine, why is it we still see scandals of these wines being spiked with cheap, RIPE Rhone Syrah? But, nah, who really wants to go there and in the process trample the image of the world’s greatest wines?
I am not here to defend Helen and John, never met them and only had good luck to consume their wines here and there. I definitely don’t want to defend Parker, he IS a tool (IMHO). But I find it strange that wine bloggers make observations and statements that show their clear lack of understanding of fundamentals. and yet act like god appointed judges of what’s good and not.
Keith L. Kosta Brown label DOES HAVE a winery, 18,000 sq. feet worth, built in 2005/2006, with state of the art equipment. You should take a trip to Cali and see for yourself.
I also find it funny that a Gevrey Chambertin has been recommended above, its one region in Burgundy that seems to be as ripe as many a Cali Pinot. But who cares, its “different”, right?
Michael:
Go to the Wine House in Santa Monica for wine, that place has an incredible selection.
MIKE II –
I said I used miles to fly to Bordeaux — it was a romantic vacation so I went. It cost less than $3000 for 2 to fly business class from LAX using purchased miles on seats that were selling for $10,000 each.
Not sure why I’m justifying you why I flew to Bordeaux, why I chose that over Burgundy or anything else. Again, you seem to miss my whole point about my post.
Move on.
1. Drawn to Burgundy but flying to Bordeaux.
2. Complaining about high priced Burgundies but flying to Bordeaux business class.
3. Ok.
I’m not sure all these viticulture advances are really good for wine quality from my perspective. They are not all bad, but much of it leads to vines that produce simpler wines. Maybe good for getting them on the market quicker and more ready to drink. Good for the botttom line, not for ageable quality wine.
I certainly take advantage of the Santa Ynez Valley at my doorstep and have tried most of the pinots and syrahs available — I’ve been up there for day trips a few dozen times over the past few years. (I almost make a sojourn to Oregon once a year to try their pinots, some of which, like Argyle and Eyre, are worth the trip.) And my local grocer does stock a great number of terrific local wines — albeit standing up and under flourescent lighting — and at good prices, but — and this is my point that I seem to not articulate well — I’ve tried a lot of these wines and, unfortunately, many do not distinguish themselves that well from each other — or at least my pallet is TIRED of drinking the same type of wine. THAT is why I have always been drawn to Mike’s love for Burgundy. I want to enhance my knowledge, expand my pallet and enjoy other wines, as long as they don’t hold back the fruit. That is why I flew to Bordeaux in February (you can fly business class LAX-Bordeaux for under $1500 if you are savvy — but that is conversation for another day) I will be ordering shortly from NY to sample some burgundy and hopefully discover some gems.
Mike: Thanks for your reply. No insult taken whatsoever as to your thoughts on the comparison of the Dujac Clos de la Roche and the Marcassin. (I’m of the school that every bottle, every tasting circumstance, is different and can affect our organoleptic perceptions. Coupled with the inherent subjectivity of taste preference, I’ve learned to expect, and respect, divergence in these matters. It’s all good.)
As for farming practices in Burgundy, if John W. is right, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Burgundians are incompetent farmers and have been for hundreds of years. It could also mean that “ancient traditions” in farming have been leap-frogged by recent advances in soil science and viticulture that can improve upon these ancient traditions and yield better fruit — and perhaps these advances have not yet been embraced or employed in Bourgogne. I don’t know. Last time I was there was 2005, and my limited farming discussions were with Pascal Marchand regarding plowing with horses and soil compaction, BD, and not much else.
I’ve seen and talked to enough California winegrowers to know that over the past 20 years, advances in soil science and viticulture have greatly improved the quality and character of grapes coming from high-end growers and producers in California. Improvements in our understanding (and choice) of appropriate rootstocks for specific soil types undoubtedly correlates to improved wines in many cases. See, e.g., Hirsch Vineyard. The tremendous investment in time and resources to better understand the physiology of grapevines, the role and impact of soil deficiencies and nutrition, plant chemistry, etc., have yielded positive results. Someone like John W. had the benefit of consulting in numerous vineyards for numerous well heeled clients. Outdoor labs if you will. Trial, error, investment, study, discussion, and debate during the period from 1990 to 2010, with the funds and ambitious spirit of new winery owners looking to make a huge impact, undoubtedly gave him and others insight into plant chemistry, viticulture, and soil science that was heretofore unknown. Whether or not you believe in keeping vines in shallow soils or wielding dictatorial control over your fruit zone or hyperactive petiole analysis or whatever, those are developments that have helped fruit reach physiological and phenolic ripeness with greater regularity in California.
Now, when you choose to PICK that fruit is a whole other subject . . . . . .; + >
In terms of the “false connoisseurship” . . . well, more often than not markets decide what’s good in the end. And for ancient wine families like the Lafarges, Carillons, Leflaives, and others, there’s a reason why they’ve managed to stay in business all these many years, right?
John Dawson
Michael,
Try Talisman Wines. They make a number of very nice single-vineyard pinots at reasonable prices.
Evan,
Nice shout out for Holdredge… having had the privilege of working with John last harvest I can wholeheartedly agree with your recommendation.
The value the Robert Parker has these days, is that he so consistently predictable. You know exactly what his score mean and that is much more Turley than DRC. Is anyone really surprised?
Michael, I apologize for being too snarky. Your comments now make more sense after your note about tasting only young wines in St. E. etc. I agree it is disappointing to read reviews of wines that were never available to most US consumers or are long gone by the time the review appears. That is why many of us in the industry try to wean people away from the habit of buying-by-review. I would love to taste aged Bordeaux, but, I can’t even afford to fly to Ch. de Gaulle airport! But you live in Santa Monica??? Go to Santa Barbara. Tons of great Pinot noir wineries there. You also have a large grocer near you who carries many of these Santa Barbara Pinot noir houses at very favorable prices.
Amen! I noticed Parker going astray back in the mid 80′s. Followed him for a little while and he started in on the current trend of wines he likes. I suspect he was a victim of severe palate fatigue and only the monsters could register as being fine. Unfortunately not everyone thinks for themselves or trusts their own abilities. As far as I’m concerned what tastes good to you is good, and it may not be good to me. Wine is pretty much a subjective sort of pursuit, but I don’t care much for the skewed wine styles, give me balance and complexity.
I appreciate all the comments, both snarky in nature and helpful. I am not defending Helen Turley — I said I enjoyed her zins and early chards, that’s all.
I still think my original post, which was conveniently ignored, is valid: It is quite frustrating to read about wines that Mike loves and then be unable to either find them (in Santa Monica where I live or online) or be able to afford them.
As for the intonations that I should not comment on a blog because it is free (so be it, but Mike sends it out to anyone who follows his slate wine twitter feed, so I was drawn to it).
As for the St. Emillion wines in question…not sure if you have been there recently, but for most tastings at the wineries I ventured to, they taste wines that are four to five years away from drinking. Perhaps it is simple economics that they don’t want to open any 2002 or younger wines for the taster who is willing to pay, but I was being offered 2006-2009 tastes. The only vineyard in Southern California I know that does that is Deeberg/Star Lane.
The abuse taken for some innocent comments confirms once again how closed up this secret society of wine consumation can be.
But in a more open hand gesture, I’d really appreciate if Daniel Posner could provide some time of contact information — or contact me at bajaback@yahoo.com as I’ll accept his gracious offer and order a case or so of his most interesting burgundies to show everyone I have an open mind…
Matt Reid: Add the tiny St. Rose Winery (right off shiloh rd at 101) to your excellent list. Their tiny bottling of one block of 777 clone PN is exceptional . . . and $40.
Dan Berger: Thank you for taking to the masses my favorite comparison: Some Pinot is just bad Syrah, or “Syrah Jr”. And it is all about winemaking. Although they are not my favorites, Erin Green @ Pahlmeyer makes PN with varietal character and finesse AND highly extracted, very ripe, and yes, fruity.
I’d like to point out that the “Burgundy” or “California Pinot” mentality is failing all of you as wine lovers. There is a magical place where you can have “richness” along with “elegance” and do so easily under $50. It’s a place where most of the wines are made in volumes under 500 cases. Ladies and Gentleman; do yourselves a favor drink “Willamette Valley Pinot Noir”!
Michael, As First Poster you deserve a few recommendations that “halve-the-baby”: Jean Marc Morey Santenay Clos Rousseau 1er cru 2006 at $38 (2005 for cellarying); Simon Bize Savigny les Beaune aux Vergelesses 1er cru 2006 $48; Bitouzet-Prieur Bourgogne 2008 $20. Try them on for size.
sitting at a picnic table outside the Turley household before the tasting…Hey Bob you are going to love this shit I found up in Anderson Valley, there’s a field just next to Roederer that produced this…sounds good Helen, light it up..WOW thats some good shit, easy 100 pointer…we better taste some wine…Hey Bob want some DRC and Leflaive? Sure Helen but it cant be better than the stuff we just had…can we have some Marcassin too please? Sure Bob whatever you want….Hey Helen I got the munchies…can I have some Chardonnay? Sure Bob. Hey Helen that was good….lets have some Burgundy now…OMG that is tart it hurts my tounge…here Bob have some of our Pinot…YUMMY that is good, do you have any crackers? Hey where’s the DRC? Oh John is sprinkling it our vines, he thinks it gives them life…Oh shucks..I really wanted it to suck..oh well. Hey Helen, we got a couple of 100 pointers here, wanna smoke another?
I’m sorry I have to much time on my hands..LOL
To Michael in the green watermelon helmet: I don’t know where you live. Do you live in a city with any good wine shops? Do you have a good relationship with any? Have you tried to establish a good relationship with ANY vendor, whether in person or via phone, email, etc?
And yes, Turley the label, is her brother, in Paso Robles, he bought the former Pesenti winery, I belive in 2000. He does make hi alc. Zins & Petites. Kind of hard not to, given the real heat in Paso. But they do taste OK, IMOH. And consistent with the region. My only experience with Helen Turley wines, about 10 yrs. ago, at Martinelli. I smelled a bunch of Gvrtz bottlings and thought “this smells like Cognac.” I think that means volatile acidity???
But you could not find a single good wine in St. Emillion????
One interesting tidbit of this story that nobody’s remarked on yet is that John and Helen’s operations are evidently lucrative enough that they can afford casually to open bottles of DRC La Tache and Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet just to prove a point (combined cost $2,500, give or take?). I don’t think the same is true of any winery in the country that hasn’t been annointed by Mr. Parker or financed by independent wealth. It’s often observed that scores can mean the difference between a wine selling like hotcakes and gathering dust on the shelves, but you seldom see any actual quantification of what a Parker or Spectator annointment is worth. (The last example I recall was when the Kosta-Browne brand sold for $40 million, no winery or vineyard included.) I think that question deserves more attention. When ingratiating oneself to Parker or the Spectator can net multiple millions of dollars and elevation to the wealth bracket that makes DRC and Leflaive as painless to open as supermarket plonk, it stands to reason that the lengths people will go to achieve the requisite scores are correspondingly significant. One might even suspect that some wineries might deliberately fashion their products with the critics’ tastes in mind or expend vast sums of money greasing their palms, if only the critics hadn’t assured us that such things could never happen.
Donn, I think the issue here is that heat summation is not everything, though I’m not sure if Turley/Wetlaufer are correct in their assertion. Coastal CA has a long season with a huge diurnal flux. Temperature is fairly flat from March through November with August & September having a few heat waves usually. Burgundy has more of a Gaussian arc to its temperature–it’s a true continental climate. There is not a large day-night swing in temp like in CA.
Heat summation in Burgundy may well be greater, but the climate is fundamentally different. The way heat summation is defined for CA may not apply well at all to Burgundy. Apples to oranges. CA gets its worst heat right at harvest, while often Burgundy is facing cold and rain. For the same # of degree days, this would have a big effect.
Hard to understand the folks arguing Burgundy is too expensive, yet defending Turley’s ridiculously priced cult wines. If Turley was beating Burgs on price, that would be one thing. But she’s not. Sure, her wines are cheaper than DRC. That’s not really a logical comparison, though, as DRC is a one-of-a-kind collectible more than it is a drink.
Of course, I do find Burgundy to be hard to parse because of the price and sporadic distribution of micro-cuvees. But Turley complaining she was ripped off because DRC did not beat her wine (in her opinion), well that’s the pot calling the kettle. Spend less, sell for a more reasonable price, and she might be happier.
The best part of the Marcassin newsletter is that while they say Burgundy growers harvest green, unripe fruit, the newsletter goes on to say that Burgundy is actually a region 3 heat zone, not region 2. (Therefore it should be easy to get even Cabernet or such ripe there.) How can they call it a region 3 and then say that P noir and Chard. don’t get ripe enough to make good wine????
To the person who found the wine recommendations unavailable and loves Turley Zins. The Turley winery has nothing to do with Helen. It belongs to her brother to whom I believe is estranged. The wines are made by Ehren Jordan who also makes Pinot Noir for his own label, Failla and it tastes nothing like Marcassin.
There are endless Burgundy, California and Oregon PN options for under $50.
I find all this so entertaining, kind of like a real life Falcon Crest. Helen and John’s EGO must be so large as to bash an entire regions wines because it plays well in their plan to make Marcassin’s wines sell at higher prices and get better scores from the likes of Parker is just a pathetic. I’d rather drink an off vintage of Auxey-Duresses from the likes of Michel Prunier than most of the Pinot coming from California with a few exceptions like Peay and Copain which I enjoy. Parker and all of his minions need to go away and we need to stop paying attention to douche-bags like them
Michael
If you live in NY (or are visiting), come up to my store, I have about 300 Burgundy wines on the shelf. Otherwise, I am happy to ship some your way.
Happy to help you choose some great values!
As for this work…Mike S, very enjoyable read, as was drvino.com. As Dan McCallum wrote above…these folks are arrogant, and they have no issue being arrogant because a tiny populous enjoys these wines at these prices. The good news for them is that they make very little wine.
Look how they opened their mailing list last year. First person to get in a check got the wine, whether you were waiting 8 years or 8 months. They do not care and do not have to, because enough folks out there are happy to apologize for them.
Their newsletter was way out of line, and not even humorous. But, I expect that from them. I have heard horror stories from many past employers of Helen Turley. When she quit or got fired, it seems that most were happy to see her leave.
Thanks all for the comments. I will try to respond individually during the course of the day.
John Dawson–thanks for stopping by, and I hope you weren’t insulted by my very different take on the Marcassin/Clos de la Roche analogy! You raise the possibility that perhaps Wetlaufer is right about Burgundy. I suppose it’s possible, but don’t you think someone in Burgundy would have seen the light by now if that were the case? If Wetlaufer is correct, that means multiple generations of Burgundians have been guilty of incompetent farming, and it also means that generations of wine drinkers have been deluding themselves about the quality of Burgundy’s wines. And, in fact, if you read the endnotes, that is exactly what Wetlaufer and Turley believe–they think that Burgundy fans are guilty of “false connoisseurship”, have developed an “unnatural” taste for green, underripe wines, and have convinced themselves that “the acidic, the hard, and the painful” is good. They are masochists, in other words. Parker believes the same thing, and this is undoubtedly one reason he, Wetlaufer, and Turley get along so famously. It seems clear to me that Wetlaufer, Turley, and Parker just don’t have a taste for Burgundy. Instead of accepting this and contenting themselves with wines they like, they are apparently determined to try to convince the world that all these producers in Burgundy are nincompoops and that people who love Burgundy are dolts, too. Good luck with that. My guess? Twenty five years from now, very few people will even remember Marcassin, while the wines of DRC, Rousseau, Fourrier, Mugnier, d’Angerville, etc., will be even more sought-after (sadly) than they are now.
More so than anything else, reading that letter was like eating a shit sandwich.
It is all, of course, really about money. They say they want some, and, apparently having learned from our politicians, are willing to alienate 85% of the populace to enhance their take from an energized 15%.
Michael, you should drink whatever you want at whatever price you care to pay. That is not at issue. What is at issue is that there are a whole lot of folks out here that believe in high-quality, well-researched wine education. They believe, and to my mind, can demonstrate and have demonstrated, that there is such a thing as “best” in fine wine. With enough open-minded study and tasting, even given the subjectivity of each human palate, a high degree of objectivity is possible. Parker has failed his flock miserably in that regard. In some sense, the fruit bomb is the Mateus, Lambrusco or Andre’s Cold Duck of our time. Big fruit, residual sugar or alcohol at levels producing similar effects, etc., etc., etc. And you are right. America’s Everyman (and Everywoman) likes the style, because Bob Parker, wine critic of choice for the Everypeople with palate insecurity, has taught them to, and caused them to shun many dramatically better wines.
And what Jay McInerney likes? That would be whatever is free and being served at his desk or table. Jay and Lettie are johnny-and-janey-come latelys who lack gravitas, credentials and credibility, but presumably work cheap…
(In case it wasn ‘t obvious (and based upon a few phone calls and txts from friends, it wasn’t), my point (3) above was intentionally set up as a basic logic problem, to serve as an inside (philosophy) joke within the joke about philosophy majors and thereby remove the sharp edge of the Dents de Chien . . . what’s that, you’re not getting it? This is not Derrida, but it is Burgundy. I still sound like I’m talking Greek? Check your Chassagne maps, and when you come to the fork in the road in downtown Cazadero, bear right and follow the signs for King’s Ridge; bring up a couple of DVDs from the store in town while you’re at it; don’t worry . . . you’ll still be there in time for lunch, albeit tomorrow’s lunch. “It’s the lovely, scenic route.”)
Also, doesn’t this call for a Dujac-Marcassin dinner in NYC sometime soon? Count me in.
John Dawson
(For the record, no relation to Evan . . . ; + > )
In 2002, while in Napa, I had the 1997 Marcassin Estate Pinot Noir side-by-side with the 1998 Dujac Clos de la Roche. Randomly enough, I even talked about it with John Wetlaufer later that week. Here’s the story:
In 2002, I was working crush for 3 weeks for Bill Smith at W.H. Smith Wines. I was staying at Bill’s home on the top of Howell Mountain, and as I’d done in the 2000 crush, I brought some great wines with me to enjoy on those rare nights when we’d eat dinner at a reasonable hour. My jewels included Dujac’s ’98 Clos de la Roche, ’98 Clos St. Denis, and ’99 Charmes-Chambertin.
Bill & Joan were friends with Helen and John, had previously hired Helen as a consultant for their La Jota wines, and Bill was fortunate enough to be an early and eager subscriber on their mailing list. Prior to the 2002 harvest, he’d promised to break open a Marcassin 97 Estate Pinot (or two) during crush, and a plan was hatched; as I’d read the Parker notes comparing Marcassin to Clos de la Roche, and I’d flipped over the ’96 Marcassin Estate that Bill shared with me on a prior occasion, (probably the greatest domestic Pinot Noir I’ve ever tasted, but I digress), we decided to open the Marcassin ’97 and Dujac CdlR ’98 together, over a meal, and compare notes.
Here are my notes from a December 2, 2002 posting of mine in the eBob Wine Talk forum regarding the Dujac ’98s, which refers in passing to that dinner:
“I’m a huge fan of the Dujac 1998′s, at least the 4 or 5 I tried, which were all at the high end of the spectrum (Clos St. Denis, Clos de la Roche, etc). Although I am only 31 years old, and haven’t tasted thousands of burgundies (hundreds, yes, but probably not thousands), the 1998 Dujac Clos de la Roche is the epitome of burgundian decadence. Granted, 1 of 4 bottles didn’t show well, but the other three I’ve consumed over the past 2 years have all been delicious. If you have em, drink em, and maybe save 1 for a year or 2 more, but these are definitely wines to drink young, in my opinion. Note that the Dujac Clos St. Denis is tighter than the Clos de la Roche, and could use 2-3 more years, and that any DRC wine probably needs another 3-5 years. I tasted the Dujac 1998 Clos de la Roche with a Napa/Sonoma winemaker friend, who specializes in Pinot Noir, who flipped over it. We had it with a Marcassin Marcassin vineyard (1997) pinot noir, and both wines were equally compelling, although somewhat different. Said winemaker shook his head and said about the Dujac, ‘damn, if I could only make a wine like that!’ . . . .”
The winemaker, of course, was Bill. Although my note is devoid of any real detail, I distinctly recall the Dujac and Marcassin both sharing a sheer “sexiness” and decadence of flavor and texture, as well as a very similar red cherry flavor component. The Dujac had more minerality, IIRC, and perhaps a bit more grace, but in terms of pure enjoyment, Bill and I both found the two wines “equally compelling” as described in my eBob posting.
That harvest, Bill was crushing the W.H. Smith Wines at Taft Street over in Sebastopol, CA. So that meant that we had to get up early, drive down Howell Mountain, cut through Calistoga, and then over the mountains into Sonoma County. Every morning we’d stop at the Calistoga Roastery to grab a latte and toasted bagel for the ride over (for all locals, this was back when Calistoga Roastery was on the north side of the main strip in Calistoga, closer to the Silverado Trail than it’s later and substantially less cramped incarnation). A day or two after the Dujac/Marcassin tasting, Bill and I were walking into Calistoga Roastery when we bump into a tall guy with dark hair and a well-trimmed mustache/goatee. Bill starts laughing, as does Mr. Mustache and they give each other a warm greeting. Bill introduces Mr. Mustache to me as John Wetlaufer. I proudly stick out my crush-stained and weathered hand out to John W., and after a quick “nice to meet you,” tell him that we just had the Marcassin Estate 97 PN, and tell him it was indeed reminiscent of the ’98 Dujac Clos de la Roche. To John W.’s credit, he laughed and humbly tried to downplay the comparison. If I remember correctly, John also told us that he and Helen had already brought in all of their fruit by at least a week by this time (which was probably mid-September).
It’s been a number of years since I had any Marcassin wine. To my palate, the ’96, ’97, and ’02 Estate Pinot Noirs were all exceptional wines in their youth. I’ve had a couple of Blue Slide Ridges that were also quite delicious. So I can’t comment comment on recent vintages. But I will say this:
(1) John W. is working on “the book.” Isn’t it possible that the juicy bits in the newsletter are just a hustler’s gambit, a grifter’s ploy, to get everyone to slag off Marcassin for the next 6 months as a means of free publicity for “the book’s” eventual release? You know what sells? As the symbol formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince once sang, “CONTROVERSY.”
(2) What if John W is right about farming practices? I mean, we’ve all had green red burgs, right? Nor do we know what he has to say yet. Say what you will about hubris, but if you’re right you’re right. If you’re the first person to realize the earth is round and everyone thinks it’s flat, then kudos to you.
(3) Then again, John W. was a Philosophy major, IIRC. Ever meet one who was neither solipsistic nor boring as shit?
John Dawson
Michael (et al.) Wine-Searcher feels your pain. That’s why everyone loves Pinot though, right? It’s a form of pleasurable pain tracking down the best ones at a price we can afford.
We can help you locate the Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin VV see http://tiny.cc/323py.
As for the other wines David suggested, I’ve had a quick check for the Failla Pinots and they seem to be in good supply.
Happy hunting!
(not even a) Nice try Michael. You were detected long before you even knew it. Enjoy yourself.
Turley’s pinots are horrible. Full stop.
And while great California Pinot should not be defined as that which tries to imitate Burgundy. It should also not be the overripe, over done messes that Marcissin and Martinelli put out.
Those wines are crimes against some of the genuinely beautiful fruit that can come out of parts of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast
Michael, you ask for a Burg suggestion in a certain price range, then complain about the price of the suggestion. Whats up?
Also while the cali wines mentioned are available by mailing list, I don’t believe any of them have any real waiting list. You could sign up and likely buy many if not all wines from the next release. Also, they all have some (and generally the more affordable) wines available at retail, particularly in California.
Another observation from your follow up post is be that Helen T has not made the Turley wines since I believe 1995. But maybe you were referring to the early 1990s Turley Zins.
While I share your price (if not fruit bomb) sensibilities, you should perhaps seek a blog which appeals to your budget and tastes? I mean is there a real point to complaining about well written content that you are consuming for free?
It’s funny because Jay McInerny of WSJ loves Turley as do a lot of California winemakers, or at least they have great respect for her, especially in a field dominated by men.
Yet I see your point about the California snobbery taking over, although one must find irony in that statement in the context of the French and their overall conceit when it comes to the vine.
Just like many Italian reds, most Americans get lost in the sea of Burgundy and trying to deciphere where to turn to. The labels are F’ing hard to read to start; then there’s the 54000 wineries and vintages and the head spins just trying to come to terms with it all. Then you have some writer extolling the virtues of some classic vineyards take on “new burgundy” and you get excited and copy and paste the wine in question, only to find that it is not available in the year reviewed or not available at all or, if you are really lucky, it is available, as long as you don’t mind parting with that week’s paycheck.
And you wonder why we are lost at sea…
I met Turley and Wetlaufer a long time ago (I think it was 1987) at the home of Joe Swan. I had never heard of her until that moment. It was at a Burgundy tasting informally arranged and hosted by Joe and his son-in-law Rod Berglund.
I was impressed by most of the Burgundies Joe brought out. I had been writing about wine for only a decade then, so my comments on the wines were based primarily on tastings of the 1969s, 1971s, and a few assorted earlier vintages. We also had a few old Swan Pinots, showing the early Russian River style that featured the famed Swan Clone of Pinot that is now prized by many Pinot producers.
My comments about the wines that Sunday afternoon were based mainly on regional and vintage characteristics, and there was some discussion about house style, which Joe was pleased to discuss. When it came time for Turley and especially Wetlaufer to chat about the wines, the trash talk about the Burgundies was unnerving — and I came in for a fair bit of abuse for my comments, which the two seemed to think were naive.
Of course, at the time, I was unaware that some Californians had discovered the Holy Grail: that you could make Syrah out of Pinot. And that that style was what Burgundy should be doing as well.
I guess I have been wrong all these years. I still drink Burgundy.
Michael, For an under $50 Burgundy, try the “Roncevie” from Domaine Arlaud, imported by North Berkeley Imports. Retail is $25, I believe, and it is a delicious, consistent performer every year.
For California under $50, you are spoiled for choice. Neyers just started making Pinot from the Sonoma Coast and theirs ($30, I think) is fabulous. Most Anderson Valley Pinots are under $50, and that is a wonderful growing area. You might also look for smaller producers such as Waxwing, M. Autumn, and Couloir.
How are my comments tired and predictable? Just because I offer contrarian views to some extent? Why have a COMMENT feature then unless you want all opinions to be parroted back to you?
I’m not defending Parker. His influence created whole clusters of regions to try to replicate what he found to be glorious, resulting in a lot of wines that were either unattainable price wise or bland in their unoriginality.
That said — I’ve loved some Turley Zins and I think some of her original chards were breathtaking. But the whole point is my pallet is not your pallet. Yet I’ve read Mike’s articles on Burgundian wonders for years — all the while wondering how I could actually drink what he is drinking or find what he is drinking. Also, I do think a price point discussion is merited. Not every wine article needs to be addressed to the hedgefunders out there. There are people who make less than 100K who have $20-40 a night to spend on a decent bottle and we shouldn’t be ignored. Your insulting “hard to find a bottle for a few dollars” remark reflects poorly on you and this blog. I may not be one of the millions who thinks Smoking Loon is a good buy, but on the other hand, there are plenty of single vineyard designate wines out there in the 20-40 range that I wish were written about more. For those are the under 500 case productions of someone who cares about producing something great and I would think they would regard someone like me who tries to seek them out with an equal amount of regard.
Perhaps someday Mike will venture that way — finding interesting attainable wines and converting the Two Buck Chucks of the world in that direction.
It’s about time someone comes out and calls it like it is… Turley wines are syrupy, oaky wines. Due to the extended hang time the clusters sit on the vine, the raisins are brought to the crushpad on life support. I remember reading some years back about harvest sugar levels in the 28-30 brix for chard and Pinot Noir. If fermented dry and not watered back, we’re talking 16-17.5% final alc. These wines do not age very well due to the lack of natural acidity to hold them together. How can these type of wines be regarded as world class? I simply do not get it. When is neglect the fruit, over oak it for minimal months a good thing?
Michael – Your arguments sound tired and predictable. Also consider that in some categories of wine, it’s harder to find to quality for few dollars. That said, check out Holdredge Pinot from RRV, a real beauty of a wine produced by a man with a tremendous personality and drive.
Given the almost completely subjective nature of tasting/drinking wine, the chatterati does gets its knickers in a twist about who is “RIGHT”.
As far as I can see, some people liked some wines a lot, and didn’t like some others. Whether I agree with their views or not is neither here nor there. They are entitled to their views. Views which are to all intends and purposes, harmless. These views are not causing the famine in Africa nor the riots in the UK. I also suspect the folks at DRC are not losing a second’s sleep as to whether Ms Turley or Mr Parker likes their wine. And hardly need people to jump to their defence!
I don’t follow Mr. Parker at all, and in the few instances that I have tasted Ms. Turley’s wines I really did not like them. She and her husband might also be prickly. But it has never occured to me that just because they made wines I didn’t like, and thought highly of themselves, that they deserve to attract such viscious personal attacks.
One of the harshest things for the wine chatterati to realise, is that it is ignored by the vast majority of consumers, and there is hardly any writer that is commercially relevant. Perhaps the level of vitriol that Mr Parker attracts, for merely delivery consistent (I’m told), personal, completely subjective views, on a beverage, can be attributed to … uhm … jealousy?
Almost all the wines on that list are unavailable. Sure, I can join a waiting list, but it kind of proves how inaccessible many of your recommendations are. I’m so tired of reading about hard-to-find/hard-to-buy burgundian wines that you hype beyond all belief.
I also wonder if your desire for a perfectly balanced wine means that the barnyard and tobac and wood tastes overwhelm whatever fruit may be hidden. I recently went ot St. Emillion and couldn’t find a wine that had an ounce of fruit (or at least that was ready to drink) and I wonder if your pallet is too refind, like the man you despise: Parker.
For most of us who enjoy the pursuit of wine, we actually prefer wine that has pronounced fruit. Yes, that is spoken by a Californian who enjoys his sojourns to Santa Ynez for the overripe syrahs and pinots that flood the region, but what the F is wrong with that? Not everything has to be filled with smoke and dust for it to be a great bottle. I’d love to find a Burgundian wine that has the rich character you always write about while at the same time offering up enough fruit for me to enjoy.
Perhaps the Fourrier is the answer, but it ain’t cheap for the working man…
Mike -
I am careful not to generalize in the way RP does about Burgundy fans, but I wonder how sycophants can defend him on issues such as this. Objectively, he simply makes wild, unreasonable or flat-out wrong claims several times a year that would almost certainly discredit other wine writers. I fear we’ll look back and realize that we spent a lot of time on a guy who is not a good writer, and is even less talented at evaluating wine. Ah well.
I’m curious to know if you hold your bullets with producers in person with regularity, as you did with John. I’ve come to respond, in such situations, “I’d prefer not to discuss it,” or perhaps indicate that my thoughts will appear in print. But it’s undeniably a slippery spot.
For a delicious <$50 burg, try the 2008 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin VV.
For a delicious <$50 california pinot, there are plenty of options from Failla, Peay, Copain, Anthill Farms, Radio-Coteau, etc.
Yes, please do what Michael asked. Thanks
-also from Cali
I’ve heard you extol the virtues of burgundian wines for years. Care to list a few in the under $50 range that a California could enjoy? Also, as fairness, how about a few under $50 pinots that were of worthy of your high esteem, if you don’t mind.