On Wednesday afternoon, winemaker Matt Hughes sat in the Brassfield Estate cellars contemplating a glass of pinot noir.
It was not yet wine, having just been through the crush. But Hughes not only understands global reverence for the grape, but also that Lake County producers must struggle for name recognition against the famed labels of Carneros, Anderson Valley and other California viticultural areas.
“I think, for me, it is a more subtle, elegant, gently alluring wine,” Hughes said of pinot noir’s appeal.
Yes, even before Paul Giamatti’s character slurred eloquently about the varietal in “Sideways,” pinot noir captured the fancy of aficionados. While frustrating in the field — the grape is frail and temperamental, easy prey for heat and any number of diseases — the finished wine shows a bright, nuanced character.
The 2013 Brassfield reserve pinot noir approaches you with pastoral aromas of strawberries in the field. From an open kitchen door, the welcoming notion of baking bread drifts over a patio, decked with cedar tables. Hints of toasted spice and fresh herbs lend even more comfort to the setting.
You are set up to anticipate a lovely wine. Hughes, however, considers Lake County’s high elevation pinot noir’s unique. Line them up against Napa, Sonoma and the other regions and they will stand out as distinct, different.
“That’s what’s great about them,” he observed. “Lake County pinots have more of a backbone — more spicy, earthy.”
Yes, the 2013 offers bright yet delicate fruit on the palate. Cherries and strawberries pirouette, but their pace is sparked by a mild peppery note. A graceful background of meadow flowers about to bloom is shadowed by hints of aged vanilla and cut cedar.
It is an indulgent wine, but one with a little muscle.
Hughes spent time considering Brassfield’s newest vintage because the varietal responds to treatment in the field and the barrel. The 2013 Brassfield reserve was harvested from the estate’s coolest site. They included whole clusters in the crush and native yeast fermentation. The Brassfield crew then tucked the wine into French oak — 50 percent new — for 17 months.
For the 2014 Brassfield pinot noir again relied on about 20 percent whole clusters, native yeast and French oak. This time, however, the balance tilted toward once-used wood, 70 to 30. And it rested for only eight months.
The result is an even more burly — for pinot noir — wine. On the nose, impressions of green tea, rose petals and balsa glide along behind the forward whirl of plum and red cherries. It’s a genteel welcome.
The wine’s depth and power show more on the palate. Behind a lively splash of red berries lurk indications of peat, of walnuts toasted to ease their biting edge, of pie crust dabbed with vanilla.
It is a wine in precarious balance — vibrant beauty backed by a little brawn.
Hughes refers to this as mountain pinot noir. The versions produced by Brassfield as well as Six Sigma are lush and delicate, with a fruit forward verve. But they also develop some heft.
“We have to be proud of the pinots we do,” he said. “A strong guy, but super sensitive — that’s Lake County pinot.”
