Domaine Divio Nails the Fraught 2020 Vintage
It's common practice among the major wine publications to pin a "review" and a rating on entire vintages. There are two problems with this. First of all, it is neither fair nor accurate. Good wines are often made in difficult years, and bad wines can be made in every year. When heavy rain can hit your next door neighbor and completely miss you, how can an entire region be branded with a low vintage score? Worse still, these vintage ratings are often published before most of the wines are even released, sometimes derived solely from barrel tastings of unfinished wines. Imagine if movies were reviewed on the basis of the day's rushes? Or how about reviewing a novel based on an outline of the first chapter?
In my experience these vintage assessments are useless at best, and often misleading. What at first appears to be a fine, ripe, expressive vintage may turn out to deliver too many overblown, short-lived wines. While a more demanding year, with cooler weather, or rains at harvest, or spring frosts or marauding kangaroos – whatever – may produce more than a few great and long-lived wines.
The 2020 vintage in Oregon has already been tarnished by the implications of smoke damage from extensive wildfires. More than a few wineries decided to skip the vintage completely, or to make only white wines (which by the way are very good). The jury verdict was in on the reds before they were ever released. And I'm as guilty as anyone, because I followed the news and read the press releases from some top tier wineries and when doing my last vintage rating for Wine Enthusiast I gave 2020 a low score.
Now that some of the first 2020 Willamette Valley Pinots are coming out, it's clear that some winemakers were able to deal with the challenges without compromising quality. The lineup from Bruno Corneaux at Domaine Divio in Ribbon Ridge is so good that I asked him to take me through the entire process, which he graciously agreed to do.
So far I've tasted seven different 2020 Pinots from Domaine Divio, some not yet released. Founded in 2014, this young winery has a keen focus on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, along with forays into sparkling wine, rosé, Passetoutgrain and Pinot Beurot (Pinot Gris). Without exception and over a half dozen vintages I have found Domaine Divio wines to be exceptional for their structure, balance, texture, length and finesse.
A fourth generation Burgundy native, Bruno gained extensive scientific knowledge as a Chemistry Analyzer while working on his Master’s degree in Enology & Viticulture. He followed his graduation with work experience in vineyards and wineries in South Africa, California, Oregon and Washington. In 2014 Corneaux and business partner André Weil founded Domaine Divio and planted their estate vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA.
Why Oregon? I wondered.
BC: “If I had stayed in Burgundy to make wine," he explains, "I would be boarding a train that was already in motion. Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, I’m helping lay down the tracks.”
PG: If ever there was a vintage that needed new tracks it was 2020. From the start he approached the "event" as he calls it as a learning opportunity.
BC: "We already had picked for sparkling and were picking for rosé when the event started. When we started to realize that the smoke was going to affect all the valley, we made the decision to go ahead and make some wines. If anything else we had to learn from it. We feared that it would happen again one day, and we still wouldn’t know how to handle it. So we decided to brainstorm all of our options, see the evolution of the event, movement of the wind, smoke – almost minute by minute – and trigger the picking of what could be picked early."
PG: Take me through the step-by-step decisions as far as picking, sorting, fermentations, etc. Did you do anything special to test for smoke damage?
BC: "We did over 50 micro fermentations of several blocks from multiple vineyards that we source from. After the first few, the goal wasn’t so much to see if there was some smoke taint but more to have a better idea of the intensity of the taint. We made our treatment dose decision based on these micro fermentations. Because of the sun being blocked for almost 8 days, we had to wait for the grapes to reach maturity. That gave us some time to think of a strategy to treat the juice once it would be here. Once we had the grapes in the winery, we went ahead and sorted them like usual, destemmed them and sent them to a tank. We sent a few samples to a lab to test for smoke markers to have an idea of what we were dealing with.
I like to say that my winemaking style is “low intervention” but that is true in normal vintage conditions. When out of the ordinary events occur, you want to open your mind to an 'out of the ordinary' approach. I am lucky to have access to a lot of grapes from all directions within the Willamette Valley. It became quickly obvious that those vineyards closer to the fire source or right in the smoke path would have to be treated more seriously.
For those that were lightly to non-tainted (early ripening sites, most of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill Carlton, some parts of Dundee Hills and west side of Eola Hills) we decided to ferment as usual and decide on future treatments if needed later. For those grapes that we knew were affected, after a couple of days on cold soak, we did a delestage: we drew as much juice as possible from the tank on cold soak. Then we treated that juice with carbon and bentonite. A day later we racked the juice off fining and transferred it back onto its skins. We then proceeded to ferment our wines as usual.
Until the event occurred, everyone in the Valley was unanimous in saying all the conditions were here to make this vintage one of the best. The fruit we had a chance to pick before or right at the beginning of the smoke event (the Domaine Divio Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) was really dense, concentrated, fruity and vibrant with acidity. So on all of our Pinots, we actually extracted a little more than usual. The idea was to make bigger wines with the thought that we would have to treat the wines later on. During fermentation some lots showed more smoke than others but as the fermentation was progressing it seemed the taint was getting less and less obvious.
Once the Pinot Noirs were dry we pressed them a little more lightly than usual, and while they were settling before going to barrel we reassessed the presence of the smoke markers. Depending on their intensity, we treated the wines with a combination of carbon and milk."
PG: Milk?!?
BC: "I remembered my grandmother soaking smoked sausage overnight in whole milk to capture the smoky flavor that was sometimes too smoky and would potentially ruin the dish. I contacted a local organic dairy and signed a contract to get a tank load of whole milk to use on those wines that needed it - we are talking about small quantities maybe one percent. We filtered the wines and barreled them down in lightly to non-toasted French oak barrels. A lot of molecules entering into the smoke taint are in the same family of those present in a toasted oak barrel; we did not want to increase the toasty sensation.
We decided to reduce the aging time in French oak to the strict necessary time for the micro-oxygenation happening at this stage to combine and silken the tannins. We realized oxidation was acting also as a binder of potential smoke taint molecules and that wines slightly on the oxidative side were way fruitier than wines in a reductive stage. So we opted to not to be over-protective of oxidative events."
PG: You are among the first to release 2020 reds. Do you think they are best drunk young, or will they age?
I think that considering the approach I had with the vintage it would be preferable to drink it early. As I mentioned, I aged my Pinot Noir wines to be released and consumed early and not particularly as wines to be cellared for a long time. The 2020 Pinots I produced are really nice and enjoyable now so we should enjoy them now."
PG: My impression (see below) is that yes, these are immediately enjoyable but some are also built to age. I tasted the opened bottles over a four day period and found some were drinking as well or better on day three than when first opened. That is usually a very good indication that a wine will age and evolve. I was also curious about the single clone wines from the young estate (Clos Gallia) vineyard.
BC: "I really like the elegance, floral character and balance of Wadenswill on our estate and the strong character, very dense, concentrated and brightness of clone 943 (one of the favorite clones planted in Burgundy in the last 20 years). I thought it would not be very sexy to call them just Wadenswill or 943 and thought about my sons. The Wadenswill would be Gabriel, talented and artistic; 943 would be Louis, showy, opinionated, brilliant, a perfectionist."
PG: Can you sum up your thoughts on the importance for a winemaker to tackle the more difficult vintages. Do you learn more from them? Or is the challenge itself something you feel must be met?
BC: "In the Willamette Valley we have been blessed with ideal vintages for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for at least the last ten years. I have been used to working with vintages in Burgundy that are more challenging and I feel like our work as winemakers is to make the highest quality possible with what nature (and good growing practices) gives us. As I mentioned earlier, I guess that it [smoke taint] can happen again, and want to know how to manage it."
Below are my detailed notes on the wines. Some are available now; others will be released later this year. For purchase information visit https://domainedivio.com/purchase/
Please note that Domaine Divio offers several different Wine Club options. It would not surprise me to see a waiting list very soon. In every vintage you can be certain that very fine wines will be made.
Recommended Domaine Divio 2020 Pinot Noirs
The ageability of these Domaine Divio Pinots may best be previewed by tasting them over a period of days. The open bottles sat on the kitchen counter and I retasted them daily. By the third day they had morphed into delicious wines that revealed the sorts of lush flavors that aging will bring. Even on day four they were not falling apart, though they had begun to fade.
Domaine Divio 2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
The aromas explode from the glass, rich with scents of raspberries and chocolate. Those delicious flavors carry the wine, but it's loaded with details of tart cranberries, milk chocolate, sea salt and maybe a dash of curry. This is a remarkable value from a most challenging vintage.
300 cases; 13.5%; $35
Domaine Divio 2020 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir
Due for release this coming fall, this is already in good drinking condition. Aged 10 months in 40% new French oak, the pretty and pure red fruits stand tall front and center. The texture and balance are spot on, and the touches of bramble and underbrush highlight the hallmarks of the AVA.
125 cases; 13.8%; $55
Domaine Divio 2020 Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir
Sourced from the estate (Clos Gallia) vineyard, this has a streak of lemony mint down its spine, accenting its fruity mix of plum and strawberry jam. Let it breathe and the fruit expands into a lush mix of strawberry, blueberry and blackberry. The texture is appealing and the length impressive. It was aged 10 months in one third new French oak. WW
120 cases; 13.7%; $55
Domaine Divio 2020 Gabriel Pinot Noir
All Wadenswil clone, this estate-grown selection is fruity and forward, with juicy citrus accents around Bing cherry fruit. It's instantly approachable, clean and fresh, with a nicely-textured finish lightly accented with bramble. After 14 months in one quarter new French oak it is nonetheless the pretty fruit that commands your attention. Drink now and over the next half decade.
125 cases; 13.6%; $65
These last three were the best of the flight!
Domaine Divio 2020 Louis Pinot Noir
This is a single clone selection from the estate vineyard, aged 11 months in one third new French oak. It's focused and bright, loaded with tart and tangy fruit – a mix of citrus and berry. Forward, fruity and balanced, it sneaks in some sharp but ripe tannins and a touch of new toast as the finish unwinds. This drank at its peak three days after being opened and should continue to evolve and improve over the rest of the decade.
125 cases; 13.7%; $65
Domaine Divio 2020 Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir
(See Wine of the Week)
Domaine Divio 2020 Kalita Vineyard Pinot Noir
The Kalita is a bountiful smorgasbord of spices and sweet/tart fruits. Citrus, apple, peach, berry, cherry and more combine with a darker streak of chocolate from aging in one third new French oak. It's a juicy and delicious wine that may be aged for a decade or longer but may prove irresistible well before. The wine fades gently with dark streaks of root beer and cola.
125 cases; 13.8%; $60
