2013 Emeritus Vineyards Pinot Noir Hallberg Ranch Estate Russian River Valley 750 ml

A Lesson in Terroir from Brice Cutrer Jones and Aubert de Villaine

When Brice Cutrer Jones gives us a call, we stop whatever we’re doing. When Brice is on a roll, you won’t find a more passionate, informed winery owner to make the case for California terroir. Before founding Emeritus Winery, Jones built Sonoma-Cutrer into one of California’s best-known Chardonnays, including the highly regarded “Les Pierres.” He had called us while on a break from skiing in Telluride with a group of Wounded Warrior veterans.

“The rap on California wines is that they don’t express terroir. Now, I saw Tim Mondavi go ballistic one day when a critic made that proclamation. The French believe that terroir is one hundred percent soil, climate and man. And I once asked a Master Somm in Colorado what he thought of that, and man, he went off. At Emeritus, we have true terroir, and I have to credit Aubert de Villaine — here’s why…”

We’d be riveted anytime Brice got into one of his master-class monologues on what makes his wines special. But we had just tasted the 2013 Emeritus Pinot Noir — and we were floored. BB-sized berries plucked off Emeritus’ Hallberg Ranch estate vineyard in the heart of Russian River were black as night, and produced one of the most concentrated, full-throttle Pinots of 2013. Hallberg sits on Sonoma’s famous sandy, loamy Goldridge soils and was acquired by Jones in 1999, who planted it to a mix of clones and rootstocks.

The eight-mile swath of Goldridge sandy loam soils along Sonoma’s Gravenstein Highway offers such nuanced terroir, we hear comparisons to the Côtes de Nuits all the time. But in our conversation, Jones made the case yet again for the critical role man plays, especially in style, along with the climate and soil that comprise terroir.

Jones credits one man in particular with Emeritus’ unique style: his former winemaker, the late Don Blackburn. Blackburn had earned a degree in Dijon and worked up and down the Côtes de Nuits for a decade, “crafting wines in the style of Burgundy,” said Jones. “Volnay or Chambolle — that’s our style, because of our man, Don. Don’s protégé, Nicolas Cantacuzene, maintains Don’s style, which is entirely Burgundian. Now, we’ve got the right cool-climate conditions in Russian River for Pinot. But in Burgundy, they have limestone in the soil, while we have Goldridge sandy loam, which is what gives us our character.

“But if you irrigate, Goldridge soil or whatever, you’re missing the soil aspect of terroir completely,” Jones said. And he’s resolute on this point because of what Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti told him — that irrigation changes the “signature of a wine.”

“Irrigation is like growing hydroponically,” contends Jones. But dry farming forces vine roots to grow deep into soils for nutrients, thereby contributing the character of that soil into the mix of climate and man. With this “secret to true terroir,” Jones concluded one of the more fascinating arguments we’ve heard on the subject.

In 2011, the year Jones completed the transition to dry-farming at Hallberg Ranch, yields were down 40 percent. In the years since, Jones says you can see a difference in the vines. They’re more rigid, healthy, and have burrowed deep into those sandy Goldridge soils to produce intensely concentrated fruit.

The 2013 Emeritus Estate Pinot Noir from Hallberg Ranch is textbook Russian River Pinot that you come to expect from vines grown in the famous Goldridge sandy loam. Deep garnet, with Volnay-like heady aromas of brandied cherries and spice. Ultra-concentrated on the attack, almost Old World in its earthy, forest floor and black truffle notes, but with New World staying power of rich strawberry compote fruit and muddled black cherries nuanced with citrus rind, cloves, sweet licorice, and tobacco leaf. Judicious use of French oak is perfectly integrated, finishing with a classic Chambolle-Musigny vibrancy.

92 points from Wine Enthusiast, which lauded the “concentrated grapes” and “soft and velvety” Pinot that comes off Jones’ dry-farmed property. You’d pay $75/bottle for a Volnay or Chambolle half as good. Most of the 2013 is already allocated to Emeritus’ mailing list, but today, 110 cases are earmarked for WineAccess at just $35/bottle — a modest price to pay for true terroir.