2019 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard

It was great to catch up with winemaker Mike Waller after missing out on tasting the Calera wines last year, in the middle of the pandemic. Waller describes 2018 as a small vintage with very low yields caused by widespread shatter. Less extreme weather with more rain led to higher production in 2019. Two thousand-twenty was shaping up to be very good until fires essentially covered the sun. Because of the freakish conditions, Calera decided to make only estate wines from the Mt. Harlan property, which is essentially one large ranch that is subdivided into smaller areas. Readers will note the addition of several new Pinots in this range. The estate Pinots are done with 100% stems and spend 18 months in barrel, while the non-estate Pinots are vinified mostly with destemmed fruit and see a bit less time in barrel, around 15 months. Ferments are spontaneous and the wines are racked only prior to bottling, a pretty hands off approach.