Newsletter Archives > Viticulture

In the Vineyard : Spring 2005

Measuring Vineyard Variability, To Grow More Consistent Grapes

By Michael Davies, Chehalem Assistant Winemaker

In February, I took a break and headed home to attend the Southern Pinot Noir Workshop in Hamner Springs, New Zealand, and that's when I heard the term "Pinosity" for the first time.

Anna Matzinger (Michael's partner and Archery Summit's winemaker) in the Waitaki, a new and exciting area for New Zealand Pinot Noir.

In the millisecond between hearing it and processing it within the context it was used, I wondered if Pinosity was some sort of medical condition… or a colloquial reference for a winemaker who frequently exhibits animosity… or something from Alexander Payne's quirky film Sideways? I suppose it is a play on the word "vinosity" colliding with the Australasian tendency to, whenever possible, reduce a number of words to one. This permits more time to talk about rugby, beer, cricket, meat pies, fish & chips or sheep, I suppose.

Equation: vinosity + true to variety Pinot Noir attributes = Pinosity.

Present at the workshop were approximately 60 winemakers—55 resident New Zealanders, three from North America and the remaining two from the other side of the ditch (Australia). The format of the workshop mimics the Steamboat conference in southern Oregon where winemakers bring along their unfinished wines to taste them blind and discuss technical aspects of winemaking and grape growing. The challenges they face, experiments they conduct, or successes achieved are shared and discussed openly. A forum to collaborate and calibrate.

What was most interesting to me, was not specifically the individual wines, with one wine being a fruit bomb for example or another being slightly reduced, but rather the statement the whole collection made. The vast majority of these wines were impressive for their focus, their structure and for their flavour intensity. Across different regions and meso-climates wine quality was very high.

In terms of Pinosity, there was debate and some consensus that the two Oregon Pinots and the one Californian Pinot were on the fringe. No surprise really, nor should we want it any other way. It would be a real pity if all Pinot from around the world imitated itself too closely. Many of the kiwi wines demonstrated noticeably higher acidity and slightly less tannin-derived structure than their Oregon counterparts. There also seemed to be less tolerance among the winemakers present for wines with higher alcohol levels or stronger oak profiles.

But please don't take my word for it; try some New Zealand Pinot noirs yourself. It shouldn't be hard since more will be coming to shelves near you soon. During the last 10 years alone, there has been a 750% increase in the planted acreage of Pinot Noir in New Zealand! In 2004 for the first time, New Zealand (@ 7706 acres) overtook Oregon (@ 7637 acres) in the total acreage planted to Pinot noir vines!

It is also interesting to note that no fewer than 15 young New Zealanders have been employed at Chehalem to help with harvest periods since 1997. The ready affinity or connection between Chehalem and New Zealand runs deep. As Harry wrote in a 2000 newsletter, " There is comfort in having kindred, passionate souls as friends, tilting after the same windmills as we seek…"

Now I'm back to the vineyard. Pinosity begins in the vineyard, no matter which hemisphere it is grown in.