 
|
|
Feature Article
Once a quarry in the 19th century, Calera’s property was the location of an 1860 limekiln. The winery took its name from that kiln and an image of the 30-foot-tall structure adorns its labels.
The Limestone Chronicles:
How Josh Jensen Mines
His Coveted Pinot Noir
Calera Wine Company owner and winemaker Josh Jensen fell in love with the wines of limestone-influenced wines of Burgundy and decided to turn that love into his life's work. Referred to as one of America's Grand Crus, the Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir wine on Mt. Harlan is widely acclaimed.
by
Laurie Daniel
January 3, 2008
Josh Jensen has had to fight a lot of misconceptions in the 30-plus years since he founded Calera Wine Company. World-class Pinot Noir from California seemed an improbable goal back in 1975, when Jensen planted his first vineyards. Then there was the notion that San Benito County, Calera's home, was too hot for Pinot Noir. But despite its inland location, Calera gets a strong marine influence, in the form of morning fog and afternoon winds.
Jensen persisted, and he’s gained a reputation for distinctive, complex Pinot Noirs. Calera Pinots are powerful, but it's a different kind of power from what's found in so many California Pinot Noirs. Those wines get their power from ripeness and big fruit. Some are downright heavy. Calera Pinots get their power from their structure. Far from being heavy, the wines retain elegance.
Jensen, a California native and Yale graduate in history, earned a master's in anthropology at Oxford and
then lived in France for a few years. He spent a couple of harvests in Burgundy, one at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and one at Domaine Dujac. Burgundy's Côte d'Or is basically a 30-mile-long ridge of eroded limestone, and Jensen subscribed to the Burgundian belief that limestone was essential to growing world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
So when Jensen returned to California in 1971, he started looking for pockets of limestone as potential vineyard sites - not an easy task, because limestone isn't a common geologic feature in a state dominated by granite. He searched maps from the state's bureau of mines and discovered what he was looking for on Mount Harlan, in the northern Gavilan mountains between Monterey and San Benito counties.
The property had so much limestone that it had been a quarry in the 19th century and was the location of an 1860 limekiln. The winery took its name from that kiln - calera is Spanish for limekiln - and an image of the 30-foot-tall structure adorns the Calera labels.
In 1975, Jensen planted 24 acres of Pinot Noir in three parcels, which he called Jensen, Selleck and Reed vineyards. Each vineyard has slightly different soils and exposure. Since then he's planted more Pinot Noir, some Chardonnay, a little Viognier and a tiny plot of Aligoté. About three-quarters of the vineyard is Pinot.
I talked to Jensen about the allure of limestone, the challenges of farming in a remote area and what makes his Mount Harlan AVA such a special place to grow Pinot Noir.
Jensen persisted, and he’s gained a reputation for distinctive, complex Pinot Noirs. Calera Pinots are powerful, but it's a different kind of power from what's found in so many California Pinot Noirs. Those wines get their power from ripeness and big fruit. Some are downright heavy. Calera Pinots get their power from their structure. Far from being heavy, the wines retain elegance.
Jensen, a California native and Yale graduate in history, earned a master's in anthropology at Oxford and
then lived in France for a few years. He spent a couple of harvests in Burgundy, one at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and one at Domaine Dujac. Burgundy's Côte d'Or is basically a 30-mile-long ridge of eroded limestone, and Jensen subscribed to the Burgundian belief that limestone was essential to growing world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
So when Jensen returned to California in 1971, he started looking for pockets of limestone as potential vineyard sites - not an easy task, because limestone isn't a common geologic feature in a state dominated by granite. He searched maps from the state's bureau of mines and discovered what he was looking for on Mount Harlan, in the northern Gavilan mountains between Monterey and San Benito counties.
The property had so much limestone that it had been a quarry in the 19th century and was the location of an 1860 limekiln. The winery took its name from that kiln - calera is Spanish for limekiln - and an image of the 30-foot-tall structure adorns the Calera labels.
In 1975, Jensen planted 24 acres of Pinot Noir in three parcels, which he called Jensen, Selleck and Reed vineyards. Each vineyard has slightly different soils and exposure. Since then he's planted more Pinot Noir, some Chardonnay, a little Viognier and a tiny plot of Aligoté. About three-quarters of the vineyard is Pinot.
I talked to Jensen about the allure of limestone, the challenges of farming in a remote area and what makes his Mount Harlan AVA such a special place to grow Pinot Noir.
Laurie Daniel (LD): When you decided to look for a place to plant a vineyard, the presence of limestone was important to you. Why?
To read the rest of this article (and much else besides), please become an Appellation America Subscriber. It's easy and low-cost!
