WTN: WindGap PinotGris '10...(short/boring)

Tried last night this new WindGap. Alas, the power went out just as I started to cook dinner, so didn't get to try it w/ my chicken. No gruel for me last night.
1. WindGap PinotGris WindsorOakVnyd/ChalkHill (6 brls/138 cs; 12.6%; #197) 2010: Light rose petal/orange/purnished color w/ noticible cloudiness; somewhat earthy/loamy/mushroomy slighht cranberry/cinammon toast slight floral/appley low key very unusual/weird complex nose; quite tart some bitter/apple peel bit earthy/mushroomy slight cranberry/cinammon toast bit tannic/austere/lean strange/unusual flavor; med.long some astringent/bitter/apple peel light cranberry/cinammon toast rather earthy/stoney/loamy finish; pretty strange wine. $32.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This wine was fermtd (I believe) in Pax's concrete eggs. Obviously w/ considerable skin contact. Bottled unfined/unfiltered. Since it was not made in an oxidative style, I don't think you'd really call it an "orange" wine. With these white/gris wines; it's terribly important to serve it at room temperature. It's really a red wine, not a white/rose wine. Has it warmed up in the glass, the astringent/bitterness was much more acceptablle.
Did it speak of PinotGris?? Not of any PinotGris that I can recall, except some of Pax's previous ones. I find that many of the white/gris wines made w/ extended skin contact obliterate the varietal character...at least what we usually recognize as varietal character of a particular white variety. Some/many people would criticize such a wine because it does not display
varietal character.
Does it speak of terroir?? Beats heck out of me...not at all sure what ChalkHill PinotGris terroir tastes like. So I guess that's not a redeeming feature for this wine.
Did I "like" (not as in the FaceBook "like") this wine?? Well...yes and no. I certainly found it "interesting". Oftentimes, I'll use "interesting" in a TN when I'm struggling to find something good about a wine. In the case of this WindGap, "interesting" means much more than that. It was a wine that challenged my intellectual horizons..that made me really think of what I was tasting in the wine..that stretched my mind...I struggled to find adequate descriptors for it. Just like some books or some people. So, definitely, I liked this wine...quite a lot. Did it give me a great deal oof headonistic pleasure?? Certainly not that. I would have liked the wine to show more fruit. If that's what I wanted, I would have opened an Alsatian or ArbeGarbe PinotGris. But it was PaxMahle speaking directly to me, thru this btl.."This is what my vision for a great ChalkHill PinotGris looks like". And I thank him for that.
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2. We are seeing more & more of these weird ducks; not just from Calif, but around the world. Is there a place for them in the marketplace?? SweetAlice would like us to believe so. And the funkier, the better.
I claim a resounding "yes" that's there's a place for these wines. This is, by & large, unchartered territory. I find it fascinating to see what these techniques result in a wine.
Alas, it's well known that people like best what they're familiar with (UC/Davis did a study on this yrs ago. They showed that the wines people liked best were the wines they most easily recognized...those w/ strong varietal character). These are not familar wines...so many folks are not going to like them..even though we've been scolded by certain Monktown attourneys to "think outside the box" when it comes to wines.
So....these skin contact white/gris wines, the amphorae-aged wines, those made in an oxidative style; they are not for everyone.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

I've tried some prior vintages of this wine, and really struggled to get my head around it. I like most of what Pax is doing at Wind Gap, especially the Trousseau Gris and Chards, but cannot warm up to the Pinot Gris.

I think you should have left out the word "wee".

I think you should have left out the word "wee".

Well, Tom...I sometime ramble a bit. Was only gonna be a few short sentances.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the highly interesting note - no exaggeration here, either. Although I enjoyed the 2010 Wind Gap Trousseau Gris, I have not been fortunate to try any of their other wines yet. Nonetheless, I can tell that I am more into "orange" wines that you are, and will generally buy any reasonably priced orange wine that I have not had before.

Having read about Pax' eggs, I have been curious about how these wines would taste compared to the "orange" wines that I have had from other producers. I do appreciate that Pax Mahle is willing to experiment along these lines, and wish that I saw more of his Wind Gap wines over here. Pax' journey from high-powered Syrah to more terroir-based wines is a compelling narrative to me. Anyway, a couple of retailers whom I know received a very tiny allotment of Wind Gap wines; otherwise, I would have a much easier time finding a Donelan wine to purchase in the greater Boston area.

Whether or not "orange" wines reflect their terroir better than "traditional" white wines is probably questionable at best, although I still find them quite compelling. Perhaps there is something in me that wants to know what Falernum and Caecuban tasted like in Roman times. Then again, I also admire how "orange" wines push minerality and earthiness to the foreground, in a way that most white wines outside of Riesling are unable to do in my humble opinion. Additionally, I have found many "orange" wines to be excellent food wines, which is not to euphemistically deny their other inherent virtues.

The electrical power was back on, so cooked up a fine dinner
of oven-roasted fingerlings w/ gorgonzola butter, oven-roasted fresh aspargras w/ Hollandaise sauce, roasted bone-in/brined chicken breast; all basted w/ duck fat. Delish. Went back to the WindGap. On its own, much like the night before...maybe a bit more perfumed. But, with the food, the tannic bite was not there; it was smooth and really singing. Not a profound wine by any means, but just really good drinking. One of the few times that a food really lifted up a wine.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the highly interesting note - no exaggeration here, either. Although I enjoyed the 2010 Wind Gap Trousseau Gris, I have not been fortunate to try any of their other wines yet. Nonetheless, I can tell that I am more into "orange" wines that you are, and will generally buy any reasonably priced orange wine that I have not had before.

Having read about Pax' eggs, I have been curious about how these wines would taste compared to the "orange" wines that I have had from other producers. I do appreciate that Pax Mahle is willing to experiment along these lines, and wish that I saw more of his Wind Gap wines over here. Pax' journey from high-powered Syrah to more terroir-based wines is a compelling narrative to me. Anyway, a couple of retailers whom I know received a very tiny allotment of Wind Gap wines; otherwise, I would have a much easier time finding a Donelan wine to purchase in the greater Boston area.

Whether or not "orange" wines reflect their terroir better than "traditional" white wines is probably questionable at best, although I still find them quite compelling. Perhaps there is something in me that wants to know what Falernum and Caecuban tasted like in Roman times. Then again, I also admire how "orange" wines push minerality and earthiness to the foreground, in a way that most white wines outside of Riesling are unable to do in my humble opinion. Additionally, I have found many "orange" wines to be excellent food wines, which is not to euphemistically deny their other inherent virtues.

Hmmmmmm...there are some people on this board, Andrew, who would assert that I followed those wines "from the very start"!!!

Some comments I made on the subject of "orange" wines on another board may be relevant here:

I think the term "orange" wine is not well defined. It was originally coined (as best I recall) to wines like those of Gravner and Radikon
and from Georgia. Those white wines, or gris, are made w/ skin contact and fermented/aged in large amphorae. They are made under oxidative
conditions. But you can make white/gris wines w/ extensive skin contact, but under normal reductive conditions. The gris wines, sometimes the whites,
will have an orange color, but not the oxidative character of Gravner/Radikon/Georgia.
So...the question is...what is an "orange" wine?
1. Any white/gris wine that has an orange color.
2. Any white/gris wine that was made w/ skin contact and has an orange color, whether in an oxidative or reductive manner.
3. Any white/gris wine made w/ skin contact and made in an oxidative manner, often in large amphorae.
My usage leans towards #3. Certainlly, Pax PinotGris was orange. But it's a #2 made in a reductive manner. FloridaJim's (wonderful) Isa LakeCnty SauvBlanc
or MattRorick's/ForlornHope GWT are made w/ extensive skin-contact, reductive, but have little color. So I don't call them "orange" wines.
And then there's some in the nebulous area where they're white/gris wines made w/ only a limited skin-contact, but in a reductive manner.
Sherry and VinJaune wines are made in an oxidative style, but their color is seldom orange, more in various shades of brown.
We need a grand poobah to define for us exactly what an "orange" wine is. You're nominated, Steve.

Tom

I think the term "orange" wine is not well defined. It was originally coined (as best I recall) to wines like those of Gravner and Radikon and from Georgia. Those white wines, or gris, are made w/ skin contact and fermented/aged in large amphorae.

If I recall correctly, Radikon does not see any amphorae.