People ooh and aah at the mention of Pinot Noir. They smile at memories of endless summer when Pinot Gris enters a conversation.
Ask about Pinot Blanc, however, and the response will be more — well, let’s not push a scenario too far. No one blurts “What about Pinot Blanc?” unless they really want to silence a room.
That’s why David Ostberg considers the Steele Wines tasting room the perfect place to introduce little known varietals. A sly suggestion — You like Chardonnay? Well give this a try — may just be enough to pry loose a firmly entrenched habit.
“I’ve converted Riesling drinkers to Pinot Blanc,” the Steele General Manager recalled with a laugh.
A mutation of its Pinot cousins, the varietal is often rapped for its simplicity (thanks to some of Italy’s Pinot Biancos) or its similarity to Chardonnay. Yet Steele’s 2013 Pinot Blanc seems keen to dismiss any disparaging remarks and carve out its own identity.
Graceful fruits precede the wine, falling gently on the nose. These are wrapped in a Delphian veil that, peered through once appears mellow and nutty, the next time breezy and floral. Pinot Blanc has a reputation for offering little aromatic to consider, but Jed Steele somehow coaxed some depth from the grape, as you notice tropical fruits, some in their skins, along with apple, buttery cream and a distant trace of smoke.
Steele began producing Pinot Blanc in 1992 after finding a reliable source (many California Pinot Blanc vines are actually an even less familiar varietal, Melon de Bourgogne)in the Santa Barbara region. At first he addressed it as an alternative to Chardonnay. Very quickly, however, he recognized another course.
“We let the grape and vineyard speak for themselves,” Ostberg said.
A sip reveals ripe apples at the peak of their snap, tethered by calmer notes, such as melon and something wavering between languid white blooms and whole hazelnuts. The impression of apple lends a brisk, summertime feel to the wine, but there is surprising heft to its body — the work of French oak toiling beyond its neutral point. At the finish, this treatment tugs on the acidic fruit, pulling it toward the earth where it lingers as stewed pineapple.
“The grape has a little weight to it,” Ostberg observed, “so it can take barrel ageing.
No wonder he smiles at the thought of introducing the 2013 Pinot Blanc to the unaware. It’s an expressive and wonderful wine.
Oh, and it’s one worth getting to know.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
