Wine & Spirits - Fall 2022 - 23

JOSH JENSEN PlaNTED THE
SEllECK VINEYaRD IN 1975,
NaMED FOR THE FRIEND WHO
INTRODUCED HIM TO WINE.
CALIFORNIA | CENTRAL COAST
Calera
This vineyard, above the clouds in the Gabilan Range, is a
one-of-a-kind terroir for California pinot noir.
FOUNDED: 1975
WINEMAKER:
Mike Waller
VITICULTURIST:
Mylène Hermier
OWNER:
The Duckhorn
Portfolio
ACRES OWNED: 85
ANNUAL PRODUCTION:
33,000 cases
ESTATE GROWN: 25%
FARMING PRACTICES:
Organic, certified
by CCOF (2008)
It's a steep ascent In low gears to the vIneyards of
Mt. Harlan, Calera's mountain monopole in Hollister,
about 25 miles east of Monterey Bay. Back in 1974, in a
decision that seems at once visionary and foolhardy, this
is where Josh Jensen began planting pinot noir in a quest
to mirror conditions he'd studied in France, during lifechanging
stages in Burgundy. To that end, he'd gone in
pursuit of limestone, a rarity in California except in odd
places like Mt. Harlan, an ancient seabed situated nearly
3,000 feet above sea level, a place so cut off from the rest
of what passes for wine country in California it may as
well be another country.
Josh Jensen died this spring, just a few years after having
made the decision to sell his winery and vineyards to
the Duckhorn Portfolio. The ensuing months have been
an occasion to reflect on the enormity of his achievement,
not just in discovering and developing a unique
California terroir, but also for creating a pinot noir style
that expresses California terroir like few other places.
Jensen lit a match that ignited interest in California
pinot noir decades before it caught fire and became the
sensation we know it as today.
Duckhorn has been a judicious steward of this legacy
brand, retaining winemaker Mike Waller, who worked
with Jensen for several vintages before the sale. A Hollister
native, Waller seems to have an inherent sense of the
estate and its quirks, a place comprising eight vineyards,
reflecting different aspects, elevations and soil compositions.
Taken together, the wines are a study of limestone
soils and of strong solar intensity, which thickens skins
and firms their tannic structure. -P.J.C.
2018 Mt. Harlan Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir ($100, 94
points) Jensen is Calera's oldest vineyard, named for Josh's
father, Stephen. In 2018, the wine feels lean and precise,
full of internal tension. Built around clove- and olive-scented
tannins, the spicy whole-cluster elements act like girders in
the wine. With air, it turns toward Christmas spices, the fruit
smooths out, and the turnabout suggests layers of complexity
and depth that one tasting can't yet plumb.
2018 Mt. Harlan Reed Vineyard Pinot Noir ($80, 94
points) A small parcel of old vines planted in 1975 on the
property's deepest, most clay-based soils, this is always the
last vineyard on the mountain to be harvested. The wine is
suave and exotic when first poured, smelling of turned earth,
beetroot, clay and sandalwood spice. Low yields have provided
concentrated dark-fruit flavors supported by silky tannins,
fine and graceful in the end.
2018 Mt. Harlan Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir ($80, 94
points) Planted in 1984, this vineyard also experienced low
yields in 2018, resulting in a generous wine with a richness
that's delicious and satisfying. Mike Waller has retained a
wild savor here that gives the wine complexity and intricacy, a
weave of spice and herb oils, sun-dried tomato and an earthy,
rooty depth, all supporting generous fruit.
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WINE & SPIR IT S
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