2012 World of Pinot Noir Seminar – Technique vs. Terroir: The Cube Project
We’ve always wondered what role the winemaker plays in determining whether a wine truly speaks of its origins – or, its terroir. For instance, is it possible to make an Oregon Pinot taste as though it came from California – or vice versa? Thankfully, the 2012 World of Pinot Noir featured a seminar discussing this very subject. The seminar, titled Technique vs. Terroir: The Cube Project, covered an experiment currently being conducted by three winemakers – one in Oregon, and two in California.
The concept was fairly straightforward. Three wineries, Anne Amie Vineyards (Oregon), Bouchaine Vineyards (Carneros), and Lincourt Vineyards (Santa Barbara Co.) would split 6-tons of fruit equally among themselves, by sending a 2-ton lot of fruit (or must) to each of the other wineries. The idea was to have each winemaker produce a wine with each of the others fruit – a total of three wines. This would afford them the opportunity to see their home vineyard through someone else’s eyes.
Thomas Houseman (Anne Amie Vineyards), Andrew Brooks (Bouchaine Vineyards), and Leslie Mead Renaud (Lincourt Vineyards) were responsible for the picking decisions at their respective wineries; therefore each of the three wines made from a particular lot would start on equal footing. From there, each winemaker made individual decisions on production methods. The results? Well, you’ll just have to listen for yourself.
Join us as we hear from winemakers Thomas Houseman, Andrew Brooks, and Leslie Mead Renaud, in a seminar moderated by Rusty Gaffney, M.D. (aka, The Prince of Pinot).
Anne Amie Vineyards: anneamie.com
Bouchaine Vineyards: www.bouchaine.com
Lincourt Vineyards: www.lincourtwines.com
The Cube Project: anneamie.com
For more info: 2013 World of Pinot Noir: www.wopn.com
Sponsor: 2013 World of Pinot Noir: www.wopn.com
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photos, courtesy of Rusty Gaffney, M.D., The Prince of Pinot
I’ve been attending WOPN for eight years and the 2012 Grand Tasting event was a MAJOR disappointment. With the exception of including a bit more food, which was nice, we experienced:
HUGE crowd. Way oversold.
Very small children (not allowed-this is a 21 and over event, but oh well).
Security at a minimum. By the second hour people who did not have a wristband were coming in and grabbing a left behind wine glass or totebag–these seemed to be passer-bys AND some who were CLEARLY employees of the hotel. I also observed people selling their wine glass to enterprising tasters.
About 30% of the vintners “ran out of wine” and closed down their booth over an hour prior to event’s end.
I encourage anyone considering going to any part of this event to save their money and attend one of the well-run events by Santa Barbara County Vintners or any other area.