I always cringe a bit when anyone attempts to draw parallels between New World Pinot Noir and red Burgundy. There are but a handful of exceptional terroirs for Pinot outside of Burgundy – Oregon, coastal California, New Zealand’s south island, and a narrow patch of Australia from Victoria to Tasmania – and each produces wines that are unique, and outstanding in their own right.
Few measure up, however, when compared to grand cru Burgundy, the pinnacle of Pinot Noir excellence. That rare combination of elegant tannin, powerful structure, remarkable depth, penetrating aroma and delicate nuance would seem to be the private domain of the great grand cru vineyards of the Cote d’Or.
There are exceptions, of course, and our intrepid W. Blake Gray stumbled into one recently, which is the subject of his WRO column this month. The 12-acre Anderson Valley vineyard of Black Kite Cellars, I would argue, is the equivalent of a Burgundian grand cru.
It is, quite simply, one of the most spectacular pinot noir vineyards in the New World. I discovered Black Kite a little more than three years ago, after winemaker Jeff Gaffner’s first vintage. The Black Kite Pinots were amazing then; they are just as good, maybe better now.
I recently tasted through the entire lineup – the vineyard is divided into several distinct blocks – and will publish my reviews over the next few weeks. One wine really blew me away, though: the 2007 Angel Hawk ($75, 97 points). This is a new wine for Black Kite, and only 73 cases were made.
“I cherry-picked from the individual blocks to make Angel Hawk,” Gaffner told me recently.
Much as I hate to admit this, I closed my eyes and let my imagination wander . . . La Tache, Griotte-Chambertin, Le Romanee, Richebourg . . . indeed, Black Kite Angel Hawk is that good.
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