2010 Chardonnay Tous Ensemble

Wells Guthrie told me that he's been backing off of using too many whole clusters for his syrahs "because they already tend to have plenty of structure on their own." He likes the aromatic complexity that comes from fermenting with whole clusters but worries about the trade-off that results in amplified tannins and potential hardness in the wines. No new oak is ever used on the syrahs in the first place here, again, "to not add wood tannins." This year's syrahs have alcohol numbers between 12.4% (Baker Ranch) and 13.5% (Brosseau), which Guthrie believes to be the sweet spot for the variety, with an emphasis on vivacity. He likes his pinot pHs to fall around the 3.5 range, which he thinks "helps emphasize minerality while still allowing the fruit to come out."

This set of wines from Copain and proprietor Wells Guthrie was among the most exciting I tasted from Sonoma this year. Guthrie has decided to release his 2010 Pinots before his 2009s, as he thinks the 2010s will drink better earlier, owing to their mid-weight structures. Unfortunately, I was not able to taste the 2010 Pinots as they had just been bottled at press time. The Pinots are made with fully de-stemmed fruit and are aged in French oak barrels, approximately 25% new. Guthrie used 50-100% whole clusters for his Syrahs. These are some of the most refined, subtle wines being made in Sonoma today. Stylistically, the wines are a bit more restrained than they have been in the past, as the fruit is now being picked around 23 Brix as opposed to 24 or 24.5 as was the norm a few years back. The 2009 vineyard designates were bottled in August 2010. Guthrie describes 2009 as a cool vintage with a late sett but otherwise even ripening for both Pinot and Syrah, with no late rains during the final phase of ripening. Vintage 2010 was much more challenging. Rain and very cold weather were pretty much a constant the entire year. Frost, rain during flowering and a cold summer lowered yields dramatically. Achieving full ripeness was much more of a challenge in 2010 and some of the wines were lightly chaptalized.