The Wine Knows

Yesterday, I judged about 15 Pinot Noirs, all from British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. With few exceptions, I wasn't overwhelmed. These were nice wines, but because I'd had the opportunity of comparison with Oregon Pinot Noirs from a Portland competition over the weekend, these didn't fare as well under the scrutiny of a blind judging.

I think I know why.

Pinot Noir is a particularly persnickety grape. It's difficult to coax into a great wine, as the Burgundians have learned over the centuries.

Those Oregon winemakers who produce what I think are truly remarkable wines - and frankly, there are a lot of remarkable Oregon Pinots - do so with extreme care. These winemakers are out in the vineyard year-around, working with the growers, the soil, the trellising systems, the tonnage, etc.

During harvest, they become even more focused via their gentle methods of hand sorting, gravity-fed systems, etc.

In the cellar, they are particularly careful with barrel selection (Ken Wright even buys "blond" barrels and toasts his own so they are exactly right), yeast, malolactic fermentation, etc.

Nothing is left to chance. Nothing is an afterthought. All of their waking (and, I suspect, sleeping) efforts are focused on making the best possible Pinot Noir they can.

Here in British Columbia, Pinot Noir is just another grape for most producers. They might work with five or 10 (or more) grape varieties, and Pinot Noir is one. With Pinot Noir, that isn't going to cut it, and the results reveal that to me.

That said, there are a few B.C. wineries that do put in the focus necessary to make superb Pinot Noir. They are the ones who make me think the Okanagan Valley could be destined to produce world-class Pinots. Frankly, the natural conditions are better here than they are in Oregon and - gasp! - Burgundy. No worries about rain, mildew or many other issues that get in the way in those regions.

But that is not likely to happen because the focus that is required to make Pinot Noir is too much. The good folks here in B.C. are producing some really wonderful wines, and they will continue to build on the success of their racy, fruit-driven whites and their amazing dessert wines.

They just aren't likely to make really great Pinot Noirs.

It would be really interesting to see what would happen if one or two of the winemakers from the Willamette Valley moved to the Okanagan to see what they could do with Pinot here, if they did all the work to find a great vineyard site, played with various clones to see what did well in these soils, then put the focus into making the wines. I think the results would be remarkable and eye-opening. But it probably isn't going to happen.