Some immigrants take longer to assimilate than others.
Such was the case with pinot noir, the distinguished red wine grape of Burgundy, when it moved to California.
For decades, while its sister chardonnay and cousin cabernet sauvignon were winning acclaim as All-American wines, pinot noir remained a bumbling foreigner with a funny accent. Its track record was dismal. Some critics suggested it never should have left the Old Country.
In 1986, the distinguished British wine writer Jancis Robinson damned the typical California pinot noir with this pithy description: "very plummy, sometimes almost burnt, and often has an unnerving suggestion of overboiled cabbage about it."
She was a cruel woman but fair. With few exceptions, California pinot noir of that era was a travesty.
The California pinot noir of 1995 deserves a retraction, however. Change was on the way even as Ms. Robinson was writing her words.
Having learned their lesson that pinot noir does not thrive in warm regions such as the Napa Valley floor, California winegrowers spent much of the 1980s seeking out cooler microclimates for their vineyards.
Some looked to Carneros, a region that straddles the Napa-Sonoma county line by the cool breezes of the San Pablo Bay. Some ventured into Santa Barbara County, where deep east-west valleys funneled the chilly air off the Pacific directly into the vineyards. Others found cool spots in the Santa Cruz Mountains, western Sonoma or San Luis Obispo counties.
Now it is clear that those efforts were a success. More and more, California's pinot noirs are showing a finesse and delicacy that comes from a longer, gentler growing season. Natural acidity is up and plumminess is down.
There are signs of improved winemaking, too. More pinot noirs are bottled unfiltered, or at least not filtered to death. Fewer are dominated by harsh tannins. In fact, American wine buyers will find it much easier to locate a good, reasonably priced California pinot noir than to lay their hands on a comparable Burgundy.
The late-blooming success of California pinot noir is welcome news because it is a varietal that does yeoman service at the dinner table.
Pinot noir has remarkable range. Lighter examples match up very well with salmon, while medium-bodied pinots complement roast chicken or turkey. Fuller-bodied examples are just as much at home with roast lamb or beef as cabernet.
At the high end, the 1990 Kalin Cellars' Cuvee DD Pinot Noir from Sonoma County is a monumental wine that justifies its $31 price tag. Even at 4-plus years, it's still a very young wine with decades of development ahead. But even with its abundance of tannin, the ripe black cherry and blackberry fruit dominates.
Another fine 1990 comes from Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, whose Matteson Vineyard Pinot Noir ($20) is a triumph of elegance, balance, length and fruity charm. Purists can insist it's not properly Burgundian in style, but who cares if it resembles a Rhone just a little?
The 1993 Acacia Vineyards Carneros Pinot Noir ($18) is an example of a wine that just got better and better in the glass. At first it seemed a bit shy and simple, but after about an hour it was putting on a bravura performance, with deep black cherry, raspberry and herbal flavors. This wine will repay aging if you can keep your hands off it.
Making fine pinot noir is tough, but making fine pinot noir that truly captures the style and feel of fine red Burgundy is even harder. One that succeeds is the 1991 Beaulieu Vineyards Carneros Reserve Pinot Noir ($17). Not only does this medium-bodied wine have delicious black cherry flavors, there's this subtle hint of the barnyard that's pure Burgundy. This is a wine of great elegance and finesse.
Its stylistic opposite, but an equally enjoyable wine, is the 1992 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir ($16.49). With its turbocharged fruitiness and unapologetic earthiness, it's as Californian as the Beaulieu is Burgundian. It could use some time to smooth out, but there's a lot of character here, as you'd expect from one of California's great pinot noir makers.
Another producer that deserves a special mention for its pinot noirs is Robert Mondavi Vineyards, which struggled for years to learn how to handle this difficult grape. While I was unable to sample the most recent releases, a 1990 tasted in a restaurant recently was wonderful. In addition to a reliable Napa Valley bottling, Mondavi makes a reserve pinot noir that has become one of California's reference-point wines.
One of the first California wineries that truly mastered pinot noir was Saintsbury. Its track record continues with the 1992 Carneros Pinot Noir ($17), a complex, medium- to full-bodied wine that can be enjoyed thoroughly now or kept for up to eight years. For immediate gratification and an affordable price, Saintsbury's 1993 Garnet Pinot Noir ($10) is a thorough delight. Don't open a restaurant without it.
The Garnet is notable because it's tough to make a fine pinot noir in significant quantities at a low price. Another winery that accomplishes the feat is Beaulieu Vineyards, whose 1993 "Beautour" Pinot Noir ($10) is a light, fruity pinot noir that would be just perfect for a lazy winter night when you decide to get a roast chicken carry-out rather than cook.
In spite of these successes, it is too soon to proclaim that California has entered a Golden Age of pinot noir. There are still plenty of throwbacks on retailers' shelves, and when pinot noir is bad, horrid seems too mild a word to describe it.
Consider, for instance, the 1992 Christophe Los Carneros Pinot Noir ($10) and 1992 Dunnewood Barrel Select Pinot Noir ($7.49). Better yet, don't consider buying these hard-edged, stewed, stemmy and charmless parodies of pinot noir.
And, please, can anyone explain to me how Chalone, one of California's finest producers of pinot noir, could affix its name to such a stubbornly tannic, bitter wine as the $14 1992 Gavilan Pinot Noir? Even two hours of breathing couldn't open up this corporal punishment of a wine.
The consolation is that wines like these, once the norm, are now exceptions. And that's good news.