2010 Pinot Noir Le Caprice

The last two years haven't been especially kind to Peter Michael and the winemaking team led by Nick Morlet. Production was down 30-40% across the board in both 2010 and 2011. Morlet describes 2011 as a difficult growing season, starting with a late bud break and bloom. Morlet told me every ensuing decision was critical, in particular the timing of green harvests leading up to harvest. Overall, though, the 2011s are quite beautiful. The estate chose not to bottle their top two Chardonnay selections, the Cuvee Indigene and Point Rouge, which strengthened the rest of the wines. Morlet also opted to use less new oak on the 2011 Chardonnays because of the lower concentration of the fruit relative to more typical years. The 2010 Chardonnays have much of the weight I saw in the wines last year. The question is whether the 2010s will drop some of that baby fat over the coming years, or if they will always remain a bit on the bombastic side. My guess is it will be the latter, even if the wines are quite striking. According to Morlet, one of the challenges in 2010 was the intense wind during the flowering that resulted in a poor set.

Because of a poor set in 2010 (and in 2011, by the way) yields were off by over a third for Peter Michael's Sonoma vineyards, according to winemaker Nic Morlet. Budbreak was a full month behind normal but the good news, said Morlet, "is that the natural concentration and acidity were very good." Peter Michael's chardonnays were not irrigated in 2010 and were harvested between September 29th and October 15th.

I tasted a large number of wines at Peter Michael. Overall, the 2009 reds made the most positive impression on this visit. The 2009 Chardonnays are very strong. I am less enamored with the 2010 Chardonnays, as they clearly show the ill-effects of a challenging growing season, which at Peter Michael, yielded very concentrated whites with slightly higher than normal alcohol levels and an element of heaviness that is out of character. Winemaker Nick Morlet describes 2010 as a difficult year. Bud break was a full month late. High winds and rain during the flowering resulted in high amounts of shatter and yields that are dramatically lower than normal. Morlet describes 2009 as a vintage where everything ripened quickly and at the same time. This lineup includes several wines that are being released for the first time, including a trio of Pinot Noirs from estate-owned coastal vineyards planted in 2006 and 2007. It will be fascinating to see how those wines develop as the vines acquire age. The newest wine in the ever-expanding Peter Michael stable is a new Cabernet Sauvignon from the former Showket vineyard that will make its debut with the 2011 vintage and that will be called Le Chevalier. I hope to taste it soon. I tasted the 2010 Chardonnays and Pinots from barrel. Those wines were scheduled to be bottled in February 2012. The 2009 Chardonnays and Pinots were bottled in late January/early February 2011.