Sashi Moorman presents Domaine de la Côte, one of California’s most exciting wineries
Website: https://domainedelacote.com/
Sashi Moorman was in town to talk about the wines of Domaine de la Côte, a Pinot-focused winery in California that I’ve been following with interest for quite a while. The highlight was a vertical tasting of Bloom’s Field, one of their single-vineyard wines, from 2013 to 2021. Sashi is half of the team behind Domaine de la Côte: the other partner is Raj Parr.
‘This is fun for me,’ says Sashi, ‘because I haven’t done a vertical in a very long time. We have to sell most of our stock to pay for the next vintage.’
He says that the winery, in an industrial estate in Lompoc, isn’t interesting but the vineyards are quite extraordinary. Although he isn’t trying to copy Burgundy, he says ‘our north star is certainly Burgundy,’ so he pulled a couple of Burgundies off the Noble Rot wine list to taste alongside his wines.
‘Some people think Raj and I are trying to do a facsimile of Burgundy,’ says Sashi. ‘This isn’t true. But the way we approach the vineyard and winemaking is in a Burgundy tradition.’ The budwood for their vineyard came from Burgundy but because these were Californian selections they have never been heat treated. ‘Raj and I believe strongly in the plant material, and this plant material is very different.’
Sashi thinks that plant material is one of the largest variables in a wine’s character, and uses Chambolle in Burgundy as an example. ‘People proscribe the delicacy of Chambolle to the terroir,’ says Sashi. ‘But they grow a very different form of Pinot Noir there, Pinot Droit. This gives the delicacy.’
With Pinot Fin the canes go in all directions, but the Pinot Droit of Chambolle grows straight up. Sashi asked Jacques Seysse about this, and he said that Burgundy was very provincial in the past. If you grew up in Chambolle you probably married someone from Chambolle. The vine material would have a similar local origin.
Sashi also has strong opinions on terroir. ‘Many people thought that there was no terroir or vintage variation in California,’ he says. ‘But people were picking grapes very late. The riper the grapes the less transparent the wine. With climate change, we are seeing this in Burgundy.’
‘When we think of Domaine de la Côte we know we are stewards of something rare: growing Pinot Noir with good grape selections in a cold climate.’ And it is cold here: in the summer it is rare to get over 25 C. ‘It is also a rare soil: Diatomaceous earth. Rare earth, rare climate, rare vineyards.’
It’s also expensive to farm this way. The vineyards are planted at 10 000 vines per hectare (4000 per acre), whereas most plant Pinot at half that density. Not only is establishment more expensive (double the number of vines at $5 each), but it also costs more to farm because labour is expensive and the higher density means more work. Sashi says that the per acre farming cost each year is $15-20 000. ‘This is why these wines are different from what you might know of California.’
But there’s also Chardonnay here. Juliet is the Chardonnay block planted sur echalas without a trellis. ‘VSP is great for spraying,’ says Sashi. ‘The Burgundy vineyard is about mechanization. Before, it was planted with bush vines.’ The disadvantage with VSP is that you create a different sun exposure when the vines are on a vertical trellis, and using tractors compacts soils. Juliet is just 1 hectare, and gives just 4-5 barrels each year with very low yields.
Sashi is a fan of whole bunch. ‘The wines we fell in love with with a few exceptions were always made with whole bunches,’ he says. ‘Pinots made with whole bunches, when they are mature, are incredibly fragrant.’
He’s also stepped up extraction a bit, and now does more punch downs. ‘As the vineyard has matured we are more comfortable with extraction,’ says Sashi. But they no longer use press wine. ‘What you see today is a compromise: more extraction during fermentation, but no press wine.’ They are also using more new barrels these days.
The soils: La Côte (5 acres) is shale and clay, while Bloom’s Field (7.5 acres) is light textured and powdery, from ancient river deposits. Memorious (3 acres) is quite heavy clay and makes more tannic wines.
For the Chardonnay, Sashi is keen on reduction. ‘It is something I miss dearly in white Burgundy. Leflaive and Coche Dury almost always had reduction.’ Sahsi says the key is a low nutrient must low in nitrogen because the soils were poor and depleted, plus elemental sulfur from mildew sprays. ‘This is the perfect opportunity for reduction. Juliet has high mildew pressure so we are constantly spraying, and it is grown in rocks.’ The grapes are so dry they have to be crushed before pressing. ‘Jean-Marc Roulot does this,’ says Sahsi. ‘You get much greater percentage of clear juice and less time is needed for settling. If you have to press for a long time you raise the pH. Whole bunch, slow pressing somes from Champagne when grapes were very acid.’
2022 was a very good vintage. The challenge was a sustained heatwave at the end, but they have harvested all the grapes by then. But it meant that the fermentations were warmer (they don’t have temperature control) and so there was more extraction.
Domaine de la Côte Estate Pinot Noir 2022 Sta. Rita Hills, California
This is made just for export markets. Vibrant, bright and linear with good concentration and purity, with sweet cherries and raspberries and silky texture. This is ripe and purposeful with freshness, a hint of olive and nice green notes in the mix. Vibrant but still fine. 94/100
Domaine de la Côte Memorious Pinot Noir 2022 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Fresh and focused and very energetic with ripe cherry and raspberry fruit. Red fruit energy here with nice tannins. It has a lovely core of pure fruit showing great precision as well as silky texture. 95/100
Domaine de la Côte La Côte Pinot Noir 2022 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Wonderful aromatics of dried herbs, sweet red cherries and raspberries with some sappy notes. Perfumed and energetic with a beautiful texture and fine tannins, as well as good acidity. Such weight here with a core of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit, some minerals and a touch of gravelly savouriness. 95/100
Domaine de la Côte Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2022 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Nice texture. Sweetly fruited wit concentration allied to freshness, with a core of mineral-laced sweet black cherry and red cherry fruit with great precision. Such purity. Very fine and delicate with amazing purity. This is remarkable. 96/100
Domaine de la Côte Juliet Chardonnay 2018 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Mineral and spicy with a taut nose. Limey and precise with notes of pear and citrus as well as some meal and mineral notes. Stony and detailed with great balance between the richness and tension, with some smoky mineral hints. 95/100
Domaine de la Côte Juliet Chardonnay 2020 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Toast and smoke on the nose with precise, pear, citrus and green apple notes. Pure and linear with lively citrus fruit on the palate, as well as lovely mineral detail. Very fine with such focus, and has a lovely stony finish. 96/100
Bloom’s Field vertical
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2021 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Fine and aromatic with red cherries, plums and wild strawberries. Lovely bright cherry fruit on the palate with some fine spicy notes. Nice grip here. This has such precision: very expressive and pure, with a hint of spicy oak. 96/100
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2020 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Sweetly aromatic with ripe, pure sweet cherry and plum fruit. Ripe and textural with a core of sweet red fruits. So textural and fine, this has lovely fine texture, too. 96/100
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2018 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Sweetly aromatic with cherries and ripe sweet strawberries. Very floral. Powerful and sweetly fruited in the mouth with nice texture. Supple and bright with amazing focus. 95/100
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2016 Sta. Rita Hills, California
This has some brett, says Sashi, because they had to buy some used barrels. Some spiciness here, a bit phenolic, but good savoury detail and a spicy bite to the sweet fruit. Dry, with a slightly short finish. 92/100
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2014 Sta. Rita Hills, California
So fresh and fine with sweet cherries and plums and nice acidity. Pure, fine, supple and elegant with lovely red fruits. Juicy and bright, this is really expressive. 95/100
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir 2013 Sta. Rita Hills, California
Linear, sappy and bright with nice texture and depth. There’s good structure here: fresh and linear and nicely textural with lovely balance. Ripe, supple, juicy and linear with great concentration and finesse. 95/100
UK agent: Roberson Wine
