2017 Drew Family Cellars, Pinot Noir, Joshua’s Vineyard, Anderson Valley.
The earthy and nicely evolved Joshua’s Vineyard 2017 Pinot by Jason Drew is really coming into its own and delivers a distinctive performance in the glass with a silken medium bodied palate that features black cherry, brambly raspberry, reduced strawberry, guava and burnt orange fruits, along with the noted early tones, leather, wilted roses, backed spices, mineral and tea notes. As mentioned, maybe a million times in the last few years, these Drew wines are some of the greatest being made in California, they are in an elite league, in fact I would put these Pinots up against the best of Burgundy and this effort is very old world in style. This Joshua’s, debuting in this vintage, comes from a tiny one acre vineyard, that Josan says was planted on its own roots during the early 1970’s to a mystery clone of Pinot Noir, adding that it is one of the oldest Pinot Noir vineyards in Anderson Valley. The maturity of these vines coupled with this deep end locale Drew explains have helped produced a very complex and elegant example of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, which I can only agree with. A tricky vintage didn’t deter Drew from making an amazing set of offerings from his ultra cool Mendocino Ridge estate, which sits just 3.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the cool end, in fact it’s outside the of Anderson Valley boundary, and set on unique soils, including sandstone based Franciscan Series shale, along with sandy loams. This dark garnet/ruby and sensually textured wine comes alive with cuisine and adds exotic spice, stony notes, forest herbs and deeper sense of fruit and I’m glad to have plucked this one from my personal collection to drink, as it is in a good place.
One of California’s best winemakers, and as mentioned here, Jason Drew, who along with his wife Molly started Drew Family Cellars in 2000, has years of experience making great Pinots, with them from cool climate sites in the western end of Anderson Valley and beyond to the west, as he puts it, he honed his skills in vineyard farming and winemaking, having studied in both the northern and southern hemispheres, plus achieving degrees in Agroecology, Viticulture and Enology from the University of Adelaide, in Australia. His attention to detail and work ethic has seen him work for and with some industry icons and wineries in California including at St. Supery alongside Kirk Grace as well as at Joseph Phelps with Craig Williams, at Luna with John Kongsgaard, at Carmenet with Jeff Baker, along with one of my all time favorites Corison with Cathy Corison and at Babcock Vineyards with Brian Babcock, which makes a total of more than 28 years in the business. With this 2017 vintage, which saw an unwelcome heat spike around Labor Day has been decidedly different from some other years here at Drew, but the results have proven to be excellent as this Joshua’s shows, having developed fabulously well in bottle, which I have cellared since release. This wine saw a cool maceration and fermentation in open top bins with 100% native yeasts, with Jason employing about 40% Whole Cluster here, after primary finished the wine was racked to French oak for 11 months, with 25% new wood. The alcohols are always low here at Drew, and even with the warmer year, this one ended at 13.5%, making for Pinots that are best enjoyed with a meal. The Drew estate is currently in the Mendocino Ridge AVA area, but are in the final approval stages of changing to Mendocino Coast AVA, which will better define the region. I recommend getting on the mailing list here and exploring the set of Pinots, Syrahs and the fine Chardonnays, which have come on strong in recent vintages and shouldn’t be overlooked!
($55 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive