Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are just under 900 cases of the 2013 Pinot Noir Ryan Vineyard, and like the de Villiers cuvee, it spent 19 months in 30% new barrels. This is a big, rich, yet still graceful Pinot Noir that's loaded with notions of mulberries, sappy underbrush, licorice, violets and dried earth. Mouth-filling, polished, balanced and concentrated, this changed dramatically with extended airing, and where it was a touch burly on opening, the tannin sweetened up beautifully and it showed much more polish with air. Nevertheless, there's ample tannin here and it should be given 2-3 years of cellaring. When all is said and done, this might be the finest vintage of this cuvee to date.
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Wine Enthusiast
A bushel of black cherries blends with slate, bay leaf, thyme and dried lilacs on the nose of this Josh Jensen bottling, which shows an amazing amount of aging potential. The palate is wound tightly by fine-grained tannins, which are starting to give a peek at the layered flavors of cranberry, pencil lead, thyme, bay leaf, pressed violets and dried citrus that patiently await their turns to shine. Drink 2018 through 2033. Cellar Selection.
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In 1975, legendary vintner and American wine pioneer Josh Jensen founded Calera (Spanish for “lime kiln”) high in the remote Gavilan Mountains of California’s windswept Central Coast. There, in Mt. Harlan’s low-yielding, limestone-rich soils and cool, arid climate, he began planting what would ultimately become six small estate vineyards. Today, these vineyards are recognized as some of the New World’s most revered Pinot Noir sites.
Calera is a vision, and Calera’s wines truly express the sense of place. Rather than follow the recommended path, Josh Jensen became a pioneer in American Pinot Noir. Taking his cue from the great domaines of Burgundy, which have grown grapes in limestone soil for centuries, he set out in search of the perfect spot in California to create wines unique to the world but in the style of the greatest wines of France. Site selection was vital as he ventured off the grid to plant on the site of an old limekiln in the Gavilan Mountains of California's Central Coast.
Under the stewardship of Winemaker Mike Waller, each vineyard is renowned for producing singular wines of uncommon purity, elegance and aging potential. In addition to its beloved single-vineyard wines, Calera partners with some of the top vineyards on California’s majestic Central Coast to make Calera’s beautiful Central Coast wines, including a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
At elevations reaching well over 2,000 feet, the Mt. Harlan AVA in the Gabilan Range is an anomaly among its surrounding Central Coast appellations. Recognizing the splendor of the area and its ideal limestone-rich soils, Josh Jensen chose Mt. Harlan as the home of his Calera Wine Company in the 1970s. Awarded his own AVA in 1990, Calera is the only commercial winery in the appellation.