2014 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard

I tasted a wide range of wines with founder Josh Jensen and winemaker Mike Waller recently. As Vinous readers know, Josh Jensen is an early pioneer in the California wine scene. His Pinots in particular have set a very high bar since Calera's debut vintage in 1978. Today, Calera excels with a wide range that runs the gamut from affordable appellation-level wines all the way to limited production Pinots, with a few unusual selections thrown in for good measure, including the delicious Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, an Aligoté that in most vintages is terrific and two Viogniers. Calera's estate wines emerge from single parcels within one large ranch atop Mt. Harlan that showcases an extraordinary level of diversity considering how close some of the parcels are to each other. Jensen describes 2015 as having the lowest yields in at least twenty years. Waller adds that all of the fruit was in before the end of September. Calera harvested a measly 0.45 tons per acre that year, with Pinot affected a bit more by poor weather during set than Chardonnay. The abnormally low yields can be seen in the almost excess richness of some of the whites. Yields were a bit better in 2014 and averaged 0.65 tons per acre, but still paltry by any global standard. More recently, Calera announced that it had been acquired by Duckhorn, which is itself owned by private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners. Given that Calera's Mt. Harlan property will never be a high production site, it is almost certain the strategy will be to expand the Calera bottlings into wines made from purchased fruit, something Jensen had already started to do a few years back. None of those wines have yet been at the level of the best estate wines. Perhaps that will change. We will see. The reality is that Jensen's children had no interest in taking over the winery. A sale was inevitable at some point. But consumers should understand this for what it is: a purely financial transaction that suited the needs of both parties. What I have seen so far in how this deal was announced does not leave me with an especially positive feeling for Calera's long time customers and supporters, and I say that as an eternal optimist.