In Vino Veritas: Joseph Carr Wine

In Vino Veritas Session 4: Joseph Carr Wine

About a month ago, Harvard Law’s In Vino Veritas threw its first California-centered wine tasting, bringing in one of the Napa Valley’s premier producers, Joseph Carr. And I’ve got to tell you, this is definitely a man to keep your eyes on in the next couple years.

Joseph Carr Wine is one of the newer faces on the California wine scene, but don’t let that fool you. Joseph Carr spent twenty years in the industry—10 as a sommelier, 10 as an international industry executive. One day he simply decided to leave it all behind and finally go after his real dream: putting a vineyard in his family. So in 2005 he opened up a small boutique winery centered in the Napa Valley, where, like the traditional winemakers of old, he handcrafts his wines, working only with small estate growers.

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And it shows: This is not your typical mass-market wine, nor is it even the typical California product. Instead, it’s a species all its own, as Carr combines influences from Bordeaux and Burgundy with the California terroir to achieve California flavor with European sophistication. Instead of raw power and boldness, his wines emphasize balance, elegance and nuance. Not surprisingly, his style has quickly found favor among critics and restaurants. Within 5 years, his wines have not only become a staple at many of the best restaurants in the country, but his winery has even been placed on NY Times’ watch list. Pretty impressive honors for a guy who’s barely had enough time to grow his grapes and age his wines, right?

After the tasting, I can honestly say that Joseph Carr lives up to that reputation and more, producing some of the best wines I’ve tasted out of California. But for me it’s not so much that Carr’s wines emphasize “restraint,” as the Times have noted. In fact, I actually found them more flavorful than the typical California wine. The charm of Carr wines, to me, is the sheer complexity. The flavor may be nuanced, and it may be extremely well-balanced, but it is never light. For example, in his Sauvignon Blanc—a varietal I personally cannot stand because of its incredible blandness—I was picking up melon, lemon, smoke, and crisp acidity, all with a fuller, rounder body than in most Sauvignon Blancs. And the Pinot Noir was one of the wildest Pinots I’ve ever experienced, exuding dark chocolate, sour cherries, oak, cinnamon, berries, and acid, with an almost Tempranillo-like wild spice at the end.

Throughout the tasting, I did try to find just one wine I didn’t like, but fortunately, I couldn’t. Every single wine of the five wines of the tasting was something I could easily recommend, even though I usually don’t drink / love any of the varietals I tasted (Cab, Merlot, Pinot, Chardonnay, and Sauv Blanc). To combine that type of quality with so much consistency all in five years is quite the incredible feat.

But the best part of the night surprisingly wasn’t the wines so much as the person behind them. It was so refreshing to see that Joseph Carr was just a normal guy, there not so much for the publicity as much as for the simple fact that he enjoyed his craft and the experience of imparting his passion to others. He didn’t take himself overly seriously, like the typical wine aficionado, instead constantly cracking jokes, trying to get audience feedback, and mingling with the students. And after giving up his own time and providing a group of about 40 or so with a free wine tasting, he gave every single person a signed bottle to take home. You really could not ask for a better host.

Both for his passion and his character, then, Joseph Carr is the ideal winemaker: a person who truly enjoys and understands the art of winemaking, working with the land to produce small quantities of very high quality wine, regardless of the price range and varietal. I would encourage everyone to see that quality for him/herself.

What I Tasted

Sauvignon Blanc Vintage 2009
Napa Valley, Rutherford
80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon
13.9% ABV

Carr’s Tasting Notes: “Our 2009 Sauvignon Blanc displays delicious honeydew melon aromas, followed by bright lemon zest and a hint of thyme. A ripe mouth-feel is enhanced with more melon and refreshing citrus notes. The wine is wonderfully centered and well-balanced by crisp acidity.”

The combination of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon mimics Bordeaux style.

The wine has a nice light yellow color, with hues of white-gold running throughout. I get melons and citrus on the nose, along with some light fruitiness.

The wine is very complex for a Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc, to me, tends to taste watery, light, and flavorless. This wine, though, has huge flavor. It starts out bitter and light, though very full-bodied. As you savor it, it picks up tannic notes, a light melon bittersweetness, and some lemon (I can really taste the Semillon in there). Expect a bit of smoky and fruity acidity to hit you, too, leaving you lightly burning as it goes down. The wine has so much body and substance, especially for a Sauvignon Blanc, that I can’t help but like it.

4.0/5.0-4.2/5.0. 4.2/5.0 for a Sauvignon Blanc.

Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Reserve 2008
Sonoma Coast
100% Chardonnay Dijon Clone (one of his other Chardonnays)

Background Info: Not for sale. Only 500 cases made. Only available at top restaurants in the world. Matured in oak for 12 months.

Carr’s TNs: “My first impression is the scent of crème Brulee, lemon zest and vanilla, followed by citrus blossoms and pineapple. All of the aromatics are complex and compelling. The flavors reflect the aforementioned bouquets and are surrounded by bracing minerality and acidity that provide structure and balance.

This Chardonnay has a beautiful yellow color, very similar to the Sauvignon Blanc, though a bit lighter. It has many golden hues running throughout, but with a green tinge. It exudes the aroma of honey, earth, and grass. Refreshingly strong aroma.

Wow! I’ve never tasted a Chardonnay quite so complex. This has just about everything you could want in a white wine: lots of body, elegance, and extreme complexity. It starts with a bit of up-front honeysuckle sweetness. As you savor it, it picks up some very nice acidity, buttery oakiness, and especially ripe sour red fruits (like sour cherries). It ends with a very crisp, acidic, citrus butteriness. All that flavor comes with an incredible smoothness, too.

4.5/5.0

Dijon Clone Pinot Noir 2008

Background Info: Only 500 cases made. Carr wasn’t going to make a Pinot Noir, because Pinot is very hard to make. Since the grape is so thin-skinned, it is susceptibleto numerous diseases.

The color is a bit light, as I’d expect for a Pinot, but with some beautiful shades of ruby. The wine is purpling along the sides. I smell sweet berries, chocolate, and cinnamon, along with a bit of mud.

As for the taste, it’s Delicious and incredibly complex. The wine starts intensely dark chocolaty, with a healthy dose of sour cherries and especially red fruits. It picks up a very healthy tannic oakiness, with tons of spice, like a mixture of cinnamon, berries, and acidity. The wine is more full-bodied than most Pinots as well, surprisingly so. It’s very elegant, but I love how it ends on an extremely spicy, fruity note, like a Tempranillo or a Syrah infused with intense raspberries.

4.5/5.0-4.6/5.0. Very fruity, very chocolaty, and very full-bodied—need I say more?

Merlot Vintage 2008
100% Napa Valley, Rutherford and Stags Leap District
85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc

Background: Made Bordeaux style, using Merlot, Cab Franc, and Cab Sauvignon.

Carr’s TNs: “Elegant, stylish, with depth and balance, this wine offers a bouquet of ripe plum, cassis, sage and subtle cedar. Its flavors are highlighted by wild berry, ripe cherry and a hint of olive and spice. Structurally sound, yet very approachable”

The wine has a beautiful dark ruby color that seems nearly jet black. The aroma bursts with fresh sweet berries, red apple, and tropical fruit, along with some oak. It has a slightly wild sylvan quality, too. Very perfumy.

This wine is again delicious, though it’s just a bit harsh. It is, like the others, a very flavorful wine, with lots of complexity. It begins with an incredible dose of berries and chocolate, picks up heavy but elegant tannins, and then ends with an in-your-face, powerful acidity and an even bigger dose of dark chocolate. The acidity really mellows out as the wine airs out, but the wine also loses some of its potency. There is also a delicious smoky undertone, especially in the finish, leaving your mouth fuming. The finish has some delicious raspberry notes, too in there.

4.2/5.0

Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage 2007
Napa Valley
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Background: Made Bordeaux style, using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

Carr’s TNs: “This wine displays a deep purple hue and has great clarity for wine that is traditionally unfiltered. The bouquet offsets scents of ripe black currant, smoke and saddle. Flavors include dark cherry and ripe plum with a hint of vanilla and cocoa dust. Firm but approachable tannin structure accents a balanced and long finish”

The color is an intense ruby, mixed with dark reds and slight black throughout. It is so dark that you can barely see through it. The wine features a very musty smell, with a fair bit of grass, rain, mud, and earth. Just a slight bit of blackberries in there too. Overall, the aroma is weaker than the rest, though still quite prominent.

Taste-wise, this Cab seems very unique and somewhat odd. Like most Cabernets, it has elegance and body, but it ends on somewhat of a raspy, dry note that I find slightly unpleasant. Expect strong overtones of chocolate. It’s also surprisingly very fruity for a Cabernet, with a pronounced blackberry bittersweetness that is delicious. Probably the least complex of the reds I’ve tried. Thankfully, the dryness softens greatly as this wine airs out. Very smooth, even for a Cabernet.

4.2+/5.0