Freestone: A tiny region thats rated coldest of all in the county and one that potentially is best of all.
One of the newest viticulture designations in Sonoma County is Sonoma Coast, and its wines do have a slight similarity, usually with a bit more herbal influence. But the area is so large that generalizations are hard to make.
By far the most widely used regional statement on a bottle of great pinot is that of Russian River Valley, whose boundaries were set up based on how the local ground fog weaved in and out of the various rills and culverts.
Great pinots here are more defined by berry fruits (raspberry, strawberry, red currants, fresh cherries) than by darker flavors. And the herbal influences seem more muted.
It is that fascinating lilt of mint, tarragon, or je ne sais quoi that marks many of the more structured and age-worthy wines of Green Valley.
And finally we get to Freestone, a region so small in pinot terms that few have heard of it. It has grown excellent pinot noir grapes for about 30 years, but some vintages have been so cold that some winemakers have shied away from the fruit, assuming the wines it makes would be too vegetative.
But the quest to make great pinot knows no bounds, and recently the Joseph Phelps Winery of the Napa Valley, a cabernet sauvignon specialist, released its first Freestone pinot noir.
It came almost 10 years to the day that Phelps bought a ranch in the area and then spent a rumored $30 million to plant 40 acres and build a winery -- and after four vintages had been declassified as not worthy of the Freestone name.
The 2006 Freestone pinot instantly becomes a key player in the region, alongside such tiny projects as Dutton Goldfield, Radio-Coteau, and even smaller brands.
Most of the wines from this area are now in the gun-sights of pinot collectors, and most now sell for $40 to $60 a bottle. A few are well above that. The Phelps wine was released at $75, alongside a similarly priced chardonnay.
At a small press preview of the two wines in San Francisco recently, a dozen members of the media sampled the wines. The consensus: The price wasnt out of line with the quality.
And finally, for those interested in trying a top-rate pinot from the area, I know of none worth trying that sell for less than $40 a bottle.