Bradley Brown (owner & winemaker) and Jim La Mar (Sales Manager) provided wonderful hospitality at Big Basin Vineyards.
I've been a fan of Big Basin pinot noir for several years after discovering them through the Vinous reviews.
The style is terroir-driven and the pinots are sourced from several different vineyards, including Woodruff, Alfaro and Coastview. Pinots are usually made with a significant percentage of whole clusters.
The conversation with Bradley was very helpful in understanding the timing of harvest in relation to opitimal ripeness of fruit along with maturation of stems. Whole cluster doesn't work well if the fruit is left to hang too long.
We also discussed stylistic differences inherent in Santa Cruz Mountain pinots as compared to Central Coast pinots.
The estate property at the winery in Boulder Creek is beautiful. The estate vineyards proximal to the winery are planted to primarily Syrah (rootstock originally sourced from John Alban) and Grenache, with some pinot noir on steep mountain slopes. Soil is sandstone, clay and shale.
The 2013 Woodruff pinot noir was pretty much closed at this stage, yet quite lithe and minerally. Balanced at 13% abv.
The 2012 Grizzly (Grenache and Syrah) was a bit more open but still has a ways to go for optimal drinking.
The 2012 Old Corral Syrah was open for business, exhibiting luscious fruit and aromatics. Mostly Alban rootstock syrah cofermented with Grenache and Viognier.
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