Side-Taste: California Pinot

Well, I've always heard people--mostly from Oregon--say with decisiveness that California Pinots are not up to regional snuff. They're brash, loud, and overpriced, and fail to achieve all the wonders truly great Pinot Noir promises. I've often wondered if this line of criticism is true; it has the ring of something one learns to say, and its ubiquity as a comment leaves me dubious. I'm going to weigh in on the subject on the strength of just one bottle of California Pinot, while recognizing the limited nature of my observations.

Though I guess I think this bottle of Pinot Noir that I'm drinking--

2007 Rubicon Estate Captain's Reserve Pinot Noir "Carneros" ($29)

--this bottle is not really special. Take a look at the price tag: for such money, I should be getting a better wine. What's wrong with it? Nothing really. It's enjoyable, and I'm perfectly happy drinking it. But it's simply dull. First, the color. Pinot Noir is almost a different race of wine--typically, it's obvious as soon as the wine bubbles from the bottle's neck that a Pinot is a Pinot. The liquid is clear and sparkles in the light. It's bright and light and crisp and delicate, even to the eye. The Rubicon, however, has a heavy look, like it's just waking up. And the nose is full of generic oakiness. It's slight but noticeable, and reminds me of too many other wines, none of which really come distinctly to mind. The taste, I acknowledge, is pleasing--it's quaffable--but decidedly unremarkable. It's a little sweet, very full in the mouth, but it lacks the thing that great Pinot's have in barrelsful--fruit flavor without the fleshiness, complexity without the nuclear flavor. This wine is just a touch flabby. There's no structure. There's no identity. No character or grace.

Now, this is just one bottle of wine. But somehow, I feel that it does stand as an example of California Pinot. It's pricey (just look at that bottle, too, which is beautiful). It's from a vineyard--Rubicon Estates--that makes truly great, and truly Napa-Californian, Cabernet Sauvignon. Now that wine is delicious. Maybe I'll open a bottle of that some day soon.