Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/16170
INTRO-VINOUS Measure by Measure THE FIRST VINEYARD PLANTED IN THE EDNA VALLEY HAS ITS MERITS. CHAMISAL WINEMAKER FIN DU FRESNE SHOWS US WHY story and photos by Meridith May response was, ‘We’re in California, and we make oaky Chardonnay.” Four months later, du Fresne was able to change everyone’s mind. In fact, Chamisal’s unoaked, stainless steel–fermented Chardonnay is the winery’s best seller. Its tropical nature makes this already fruit-driven sipper a veritable liquid fruit salad. W While this Chardonnay has the winery’s only sourced fruit (the majority of it comes from the Arroyo Seco region in Monterey County), the line-up of estate fruit—with exceptional clonal selection—showcases the property’s bold personal- ity. “Terroir is not always about delicate nuance,” says du Fresne. “Chamisal terroir is known for making impactful wines.” In fact, du Fresne believes that Chamisal’s 2007 Pinot Noir was “the darkest Pinot Noir ever produced on the planet.” We got hold of a glass of this inky wonder “with absolutely no Syrah blended in—and it was as opaque as our Syrah.” With tar on the nose, a garden of spring Chamisal winemaker Fin du Fresne has a lot to boast about. fl owers wafting through lavender and that iconic Chamisal spice, this wine backs up du Fresne’s boast that his Pinot is bigger than your Pinot. “We tried to rein it in,” he notes. “We really didn’t push it; I let it be: It was just the nature of the terroir.” And the vintage. With plans to harvest in late September, the 2010 vintage is expected to be in a lighter, more delicate style, with abundant acidity. But Chamisal, its 80 contiguous acres planted primarily to Burgundian fruit, has the crop load and concentration advantage in Edna Valley. “We also pick two to three weeks later than any of our neighbors,” he states, pointing to adjacent wineries Tolosa and Alban. And in the past few vintages, the red grapes have been organically farmed. Du Fresne cut his teeth on Pinot Noir in his native New Zealand, working at wineries in Martinborough and Marlborough, where “Pinot is going rock star.” Du Fresne’s practice of leaf plucking, in which all the leaves are cut off the fruiting zone leaving “nudie” clusters, left his vineyard team shaking. “But there’s no worry about sunburn here: We’re six miles from the ocean.” On the wind-spanking August day we visited, the temperatures were in the mid-60s. The historic Chamisal property was the fi rst vineyard planted in Edna Valley, in 1973. With more than 25 distinct clones matched to its micro-climates, ten are just for Pinot Noir—no winery in California has more. 62 / the tasting panel / september 2010 “Naked vines get more sun exposure, and most climates can’t handle it: I convinced my reluctant team that this practice would work in the Edna Valley.” Measure by measure, Chamisal Vineyards is gaining fame, albeit that Santa Barbara County to the south and Paso Robles to the north are louder and clearer on the radar as wine regions. But with its fairly new ownership by sales and mar- keting company The Crimson Group, and a name and label change (the winery was formerly known as Domaine Alfred), the little valley on the Central Coast can claim a rising star. hen New Zealand–born Fintan du Fresne fi rst came on board in 2006 as winemaker for Edna Valley’s Chamisal Vineyards, he lobbied to make an unoaked, stainless-style Chardonnay. “They thought I was crazy. The