Josh Jensen has consistently become the first producer of excellent American Pinot Noir through him after a single-minded search for the best place to grow Pinot Noir grapes in California in the 1970s. rice field. Carrera Wine Company, Inspiring a new generation of West Coast winemakers, he died on Saturday at his home in San Francisco. He was 78 years old.
The cause was multiple health problems, said his daughter Sylvie Jensen.
The excellent American Pinot Noir was rarely seen in 1972 when Jensen, engrossed in the Burgundy region of France, one of the world’s leading Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers, set out to create his own version in California. did not. With a few exceptions, most American Pinot Noirs at the time were simple and fruity at best. Often it was a boiled dish from the hot Central Valley.
But Jensen had a different idea. Having worked briefly in Burgundy, he first saw Pinot Noir’s affinity for the limestone that underlies the region. He was convinced that if he could find limestone in the rare California, he could make a great wine with the complexity and aging ability typical of good Burgundy.
After pondering geological maps and mining surveys and scrutinizing the countryside for a combination of limestone and warm climate that could give him the finest wines he envisioned, he stuck to the monk’s dedication for two years.
In 1974, he found his location 2,200 feet high on the remote slopes of Mount Harlan in the Gabilan Range of San Benito County, two hours southeast of San Francisco. Don’t worry about isolation, paved roads, lack of electricity, running water, or, as Jensen later mentioned, the fact that the location was a “Frisbees” from the San Andreas Fault. His vision outweighed the potential pitfalls.
He bought the parcel and found a well-preserved old lime kiln on it. Shortly thereafter, he lived in a trailer with his wife Jeanne Newman and her little child, the first three vineyards, Jensen (named after his father), Celec (mentor), and Reed. I started planting (investors). Surrounded by mountains, each has a different exposure to the sun. In 1975, the Calera Wine Company, which means lime kiln in Spanish, was born.
The first small crop arrived in 1978. It was the year after Jensen bought additional land 1,000 feet below the mountain to build a winery, leaving most of the makeshift facilities exposed to the elements.
“The isolation of Carrera was spectacular,” said Ted Lemon, who worked in Burgundy and worked briefly with Jensen in the early 1980s before it was founded. Retry We continue to make remarkable Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Sonoma County, California. “There was no winemaking community. No one rented equipment if something broke. But it also contributed to adventurous and pioneering spirit.”
In contrast to the method commonly used in California, Jensen used the surrounding yeast for fermentation instead of inoculating the grapes with commercial yeast. He didn’t filter the wine. Early on, he needed to supplement his production and was able to buy Zinfandel grapes and sell enough wine to pay his invoice.
Soon after, in the mid-1980s, Carrera’s Pinot Noir began to attract attention. They are a classic style in Burgundy tradition, with intense fruit flavors coming from the California sunshine, structured to ripen young and well and not easy to enjoy.
Each vineyard seemed to offer its own unique expression. Most importantly, Carrera’s Pinot Noir is consistently good every year, unlike the one-time Pinot Noir victory that couldn’t be reproduced, although it sometimes appeals to other producers. did.
Over time, Jensen added three vineyards, Mills, Ryan and Viognier, to the original 24 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté and Viognier. Carrera’s vineyards eventually totaled 85 acres.
“It’s easy to forget that there weren’t many prominent Pinot Noir producers in California in the 1980s, and few were able to maintain and improve quality in the decades that followed,” Lemon said. “Carrera did that. That alone made Josh an extraordinary feat.”
Jensen didn’t just make great wines. His success encouraged others to try Pinot Noir. The new vineyards were soon planted in other remote areas of California, such as the Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Santa Rita Hills at the western end of Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County.But no one else was adventurous Harlan MountainApproved by the federal government in 1990 as an American Viticultural Area.
“Josh’s full commitment and passion to push something to the limit to achieve quality has been an inspiration for many who have followed,” Lemon said. “Few people had the courage to jump out into such a terrifying, distant place, but many were inspired by his work.”
Jonathan Eddie Jensen was born on February 11, 1944 in Seattle to dentist Dr. Stephen Jensen and housewife Jasmine (Eddie) Jensen. He grew up in Orinda, California, where he was called Josh. His nickname is packed. He later legally changed his name to Joshe Edison Jensen and took his middle name from the inventor with whom he shared his birthday.
He graduated from Yale University, where he majored in history and rowed a crew. He then spent two years at New College, Oxford University, England, where he earned a master’s degree in anthropology, continued rowing, and in 1967 took part in a race in which Oxford defeated its archival Cambridge. ..
Jensen was introduced to wine by his father’s friend. After getting his degree, he went to France in 1970, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Vosne-Romanee’s famous Burgundy Estate. He fell in love with Burgundy and spent some of his next few years there. Domaine DujacAt that time, it was a new construction site in Morey-Saint-Denis and is now one of the most respected producers in the region.
When he wasn’t working in Burgundy, his son, Dagan, said, he crossed Europe and the Middle East in an old Volkswagen van, often sleeping behind, a harbinger of his California hunt.
The marriage between Jensen and Newman ended with a divorce. In addition to his son and his daughter Sylvie, he is surviving by another daughter, Chloe Jensen. Stepdaughter Melissa Jensen. Two sisters, Thea Engesser and Stephenie Ward. And five grandchildren.
Carrera’s Pinot Noir was considered one of America’s finest in the 1990s and 2000s. Mr. Jensen’s license plate was labeled “Mr. Pino” because it was nicknamed in Burgundy, which was considered an honorary Burgundian. He often returned to the bike with his friends.
Jensen was the leader of young Pinot Noir producers like Andy Pee, the owner of the Sonoma Coast’s Pinot Noirs.
“He wasn’t just a lover of Pinot Noir, he was a lover of books, clothes, culture, and jokes, which attracted me to him,” Pee said on Monday. “He had a strong heart, was open-minded, and didn’t impose his agenda on you.”
With the spread of Pinot Noir in the United States in the late 1990s, the general style began to change. Instead of Jensen’s favorite tense, structured but restrained wine, critics praised the luxurious, powerful and fruity Pinot Noir with its high alcohol content. Jensen was not a fan.
“These big and heavy fruit bombs soften and sag instead of increasing their strength,” he said in 2009.
Nevertheless, the alcohol content of his own wine began to rise over time. It’s because he was due to climate change and drought.
In 2017, Jensen, who wasn’t interested in children continuing to work on Mount Harlan, said Carrera. Duckhorn portfolioOwns several prominent California wineries.
Jensen, recently called the “Werner Herzog of Vineron” by California winemaker Randall Grahm, was unwavering in his dedication to the combination of limestone and Pinot Noir.
“I am a true believer,” he said.
