2013 Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard

I was deeply impressed with the wide range of wines I tasted this year from Big Basin and proprietor Bradley Brown, with perhaps one or two exceptions. Specifically, the wines have attained a level of purity and focus that was not always present in the early days. The whole clusters, which are still a significant part of the house style, are much better integrated into the fabric of the wines than was once the case. As a result, the wines are wonderfully detailed and finely sketched to a degree I have not seen in the past.

Proprietor Bradley Brown and his team make a wide range of wines from a number of sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The 2014 Pinots show the most change over last year. Most likely, the wines needed quite a bit of time to assimilate their 100% whole clusters. In 2015 the stems are down because of the high levels of shatter. The Big Basin style centers around picking on the earlier side of things. The wines are fermented with a good dose of whole clusters and, with some exceptions, aged in 25-30% new oak. As is the case at most estates in California, yields were down markedly in 2015.

Proprietor Bradley Brown presented a wide range of wines from vineyards in the Santa Cruz and Gabilan mountains. The bottled wines have come in pretty much where I imagined they would. In addition to the bottled wines, I also tasted a handful of wines from barrel that are scheduled for imminent bottling. Unfortunately I did not taste the Frenchie's, as all the unreleased vintages are still in barrel. As I have written here before, Big Basin has gone through a radical style change in recent years. It wasn't that long ago that these wines were inky, deep and super-concentrated. Today, the wines are much more restrained in style. Most of the reds are done with a portion of whole clusters, while neutral oak is much more prevalent throughout the range than new barrels. However, I feel that Big Basin hasn't yet firmly established a house style. That is especially evident in the 2014 Pinots I tasted, all of which are light and lacking in depth today, even for wines made in this style. Some of what I tasted might be attributable to a very early harvest that started in late August, three weeks ahead of 2013, itself an early harvest. However, my instincts say that the desire to pick at lower sugars may have been pushed too far. Of course, time will be the ultimate judge. While seeking balance in wines is a positive, the very word 'balance' denotes a point of equilibrium, not of excess.

Big Basin proprietor Bradley Brown began his career as an apprentice of John Alban, so it is hardly a surprise that the early Big Basin wines reflect that influence. Over the last few years, Brown has made a pretty radical shift towards a much lighter style of winemaking. Picking dates have moved up and the overall emphasis today is on freshness. Neutral oak is favored over new barrels, while the use of whole clusters, especially in Pinot, is on the way up. It isn't exactly clear to me yet where Brown and Big Basin will ultimately end up in the stylistic spectrum but it is obvious the wines are quite different in style than they were just a few years ago. At the same time, both 2011 and 2012 are lighter vintages, so vintage characteristics can't be discounted. In 2011 getting full ripeness was very difficult, while in 2012 generous yields resulted in mid-weight wines that are open, supple, but that at times lack structure.