The Opportunity of a Lifetime: Calera Library
The relationship between Calera and K&L is long and deep. In 1975 when the late Josh Jensen planted his first vines in the rugged limestone soils of Mt. Harlan, the idea of K&L was also taking root in the minds of our founders Clyde Beffa and Todd Zucker. By New Years Eve of ‘76, K&L had opened its doors for the first time. Meanwhile those tiny cuttings on the hillside hunkered down for their second winter. Looking back through our sales history at K&L shows that we have sold just about every vintage Calera has ever produced—from the first few meager cases of 1978 “Jensen” Pinot Noir to the current-day release of 2018 “Jensen” Pinot Noir. As we bid farewell to this pioneer of California winegrowing who has inspired generations of winemakers, the original vines from Josh’s grand vision are entering their 47th year and continue to yield some of the finest Pinot Noir on the planet.
Throughout my time with K&L I’ve been lucky enough to taste some of Calera’s great wines from older vintages, and, since becoming the Domestic Wine Buyer in 2018, these wines have become a mainstay of our California Pinot Noir program. I’ve been fortunate to visit the property on a few occasions, and I am convinced to this day that it is one of, if not the most, incredible places in the country to grow world-class, ageworthy Pinot Noir. As you make the long and winding drive up a rutted dirt road, into the middle of nowhere, it’s easy to find yourself thinking that there is no way someone would go to all the trouble of establishing a vineyard in a place as remote as this unless they intended to create something truly special and unique. As soon as you catch your first glimpse of the vines at Calera, clinging to the varied undulations of the hillsides watched over by jagged, exposed limestone outcroppings, it very quickly becomes clear just how singular this site is.
The Project
After one such awe-inspiring visit back in June of 2021, the first seeds of the library project were sown. After tasting the entire lineup of current release wines (2017s at the time), the discussion moved to the older bottlings we had enjoyed in the past. It soon became clear that Calera had kept an extensive library of wines dating all the way back to the beginning of the estate. Fast forward to March of 2022 when I was told that K&L was going to be offered access to these library wines—an opportunity that I was obviously never going to pass up! However, the sheer scale of the library didn’t hit home until I was in possession of a somewhat overwhelming spreadsheet of wines going back five decades!
Then started the long and fastidious process of researching the wines, assessing real time availability, checking vintages, critical acclaim, pricing, and, last but certainly not least, taking another trip back to Calera to taste a huge cross-section of the wines. A crew of trustworthy palates was assembled and we made the trip down to Cienega Valley to taste over 60 wines from 1975 to the present day. The consistency and quality of the wines was nothing short of spectacular! Despite our expectations already being very high, everyone at the tasting was blown away by how consistently the wines had held up, often seeming ten years younger than their vintage date. As these wines had been stored in Calera’s own library locations their entire lives, the provenance is perfect, and it showed in the condition of the wines all across the board. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime tasting that I will never forget.
The Terroir
The big takeaways from the tasting were that Calera’s wines seem to be unrivaled in California Pinot Noir when it comes to aging potential. The terroir of this magnificent site is unmistakably woven into the wines, their concentration and core of minerality was a consistent thread throughout. We also all identified clear and notable differences in wines from the different parcels on the estate. These blocks (Jensen, Selleck, Reed, Mills, Ryan, and de Villiers) are all spread around the peak of Mt. Harlan with an almost infinite variability of orientation, slope, aspect, soil, and exposure. The Jensen block, planted in 1975, almost always produced the most muscular, structured, and powerful of the wines. Selleck, also planted in 1975, is defined by its intensely rocky soils, which produce wines that are the most brooding, savory, and complex. Wines from Reed, the final 1975 planting, showed up time and time again as lighter and more ethereal than those from the other original plantings—these wines had us utterly beguiled with floral tones and exotic spices. Mills, planted in 1984 on its own roots, produces a tiny crop of powerfully concentrated fruit with pure crushed limestone character speckled throughout. De Villiers, planted in 1997 right next to Jensen, similarly produces powerful, structured wines but with a little more overt fruit than Jensen, at least in its “youth.” Ryan, planted in 1998, is the highest parcel on the estate. Facing west and feeling the full effect of the ocean breezes, this block produces bright, red-fruited wines with lots of vitality.
The Wines
While there were obviously some standout bottles that rank up there with the very finest wines I have tasted in my career, what was more remarkable about this tasting is that not one single wine was completely over the hill. Nothing was matterized or falling apart after 30 minutes of air. In fact some of the wines from the 1980s were absolutely singing and perhaps even fresher than some from the 1990s or even early 2000s! We agreed to purchase the vast vast majority of the wines on the spot. The library also contained a good number of larger-format bottles, so you will note unprecedented access to 1.5L and 3L bottlings across many vintages.
The sheer size of this offering means it is prohibitive to publish all the tasting notes on every wine, so what follows is a summation of some of the highlights of the collection.
1979 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $79.95
Planted in 1975 Jensen produced its first miniscule crop of fruit in 1978. However, the first substantial crop of fruit came off the vines in 1979. Remarkably for a wine of 43 years, this Pinot still has life left and structure, too! Obviously the flavors are fully developed but there’s still some dark red fruit, leather, truffle, and earth. The acidity is nicely pitched, and fine grippy tannins still hold the wine together very well. History in a bottle.
1981 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
A distinctly savory wine with smoked meat and briary flavors leading to some mulberry and cedar notes. Iron-like minerality. Still holding on to great structure with a lovely satin texture on the palate. Remarkable for the age.
1981 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Light and translucent in the glass with notable leafy, forest-floor aromas. Hedgerow, brambly fruit. Light baking spice. Subtle and elegant.
1981 Calera "Selleck" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Fully mature aromas of leather and sandalwood lead the way here. While most of the fruit element is gone, this is still a gorgeous example of an aged Pinot Noir with a silky texture, lovely acidity, and complex earthy, savory tones. It is by no means over-the-hill, but certainly a wine for those who don’t look for upfront fruit.
1982 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
I paid special attention to this one, a significant birth year in my family! As with so many of the Reed bottlings, this wine was super elegant, layered, and showed some exotic spice notes. Leafy tones, dried herbs, leather, dusty earth.
1983 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $99.95
A stand-out in the tasting, this wine has wonderful clarity and vibrancy for a wine of 39 years of age. A classic “Pinot nose” of forest berries, leaf litter, earth, and subtle amaro-like alpine herbs. This wine could have easily been 10-15 years younger judging by how it was showing at our tasting in May of 2022.
95 points Vinous: “The 1983 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard has aged impeccably.” (AG) 6/2015
1984 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
My birth-year wine! Sadly, on our first tasting of the 1984 Jensen, we detected a little more brett than I could commit too! However, that disappointment was short lived as we tasted the next ‘84 from Reed and it showed much better. Still quite an earthy, savory wine, but with much better purity and depth on the palate. Seemingly this one has enough in the tank to make it to the 40 year milestone just two short years away, so you can bet I’m putting one in my cellar!
1985 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
I didn’t manage to scribble much down about either of the ‘85s we tasted but this one did get a star and the single word “Excellent.” I’ll let that stand!
1985 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Reed was a well-established favorite of the panel by this point, consistently the preferred wine for most tasters in many vintages. The ‘85 was showing beautifully with plenty of red forest berries, baking spice, and tobacco. The fact that the vines had reached10 years of age was really apparent in these mid-80s wines.
1986 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $99.95
The pick of the ‘86s, Jensen was showing well and was very youthful. Deep red fruit abounds, underlined by leather, truffle oil, clove. Awesome wine.
1988 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $149.95
A serious contender for wine of the tasting. Mr. Parker’s seemingly hyperbolic notes on Calera’s 1988s are actually bang on. This was certainly one of the strongest vintages of the tasting across multiple vineyard blocks. Showing remarkably well for its age, with tons of fruit, bold tannins, exotic spice—very concentrated.
1988 Calera "Mills" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $79.95
Parker tasted this wine in 2002 at age 14 and called it “an amazing tour de force in Pinot Noir winemaking.” 20 years later this wine is still remarkably dense and powerful. Smoldering black fruits, bramble, black raspberry, oak spices, and rocky minerals. Perfect balance and poise.
1990 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $99.95
Bold and powerful. Brooding dark fruit, earth, graphite, and leather. Quite tight on the first pass around the table, but it opened up nicely with 15 mins of air.
1991 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $119.95
A great showing from the flagship parcel on the estate. The 1991 Jensen is stunning! Youthful (for 31-years old) notes of wild flowers, liquored raspberry, dusty earth, and leather. Silky palate, precise balance and refinement.
1992 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir
Despite the lack of critical acclaim on this wine… it was one of the standouts for me. My notes start: “Smells great. Tastes even better!” I found this to be classic Reed with bright, aromatic fruit, Asian spice, wet clay, sandalwood, and leaf litter notes. So silky and pure. Aged to perfection. Incredible.
1992 Calera "Mills Vineyard" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
With the 1984-planted, own-rooted vines in the Mills block getting more established by the point this fruit was picked, this wine is singing! My notes said: “Fresh, super aromatic, beautiful expression of Pinot Noir.”
1992 Calera "Selleck" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Another ‘92 that showed great was the Selleck. This wine was super vibrant and bright for a 30-year-old wine. Notable purity and resonating acidity. Less savory than most of the Selleck bottlings we tasted.
1993 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
The ‘93s were very strong at the tasting, too. For this wine I scrawled: “Excellent! Pure Pinot, lifted spice, silky fruit, damp earth, pipe tobacco, sage.”
1993 Calera "Selleck" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
I failed to write too much by way of descriptors here… but what I did write was pretty clear: “Beautiful, showing great, tons of life left.”
1994 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Another show-stopping Reed, a big favorite with the tasting panel. The ‘94 is stunningly perfumed, with ripe fruits—strawberry, sweet raspberry, alpine herbs, a sauve and luxurious mouthfeel and lots in-mouth florality. A very attractive wine.
1995 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $149.95
One of the first wines in the flight that I think could still be on the ascent! Pretty remarkable at 27 years of age, but this wine was tightly coiled in the glass; lots of earthy, ferrous, soil-driven characters dominate until briary, brambly fruits start to emerge with air. A serious wine with compact layers and a formidable structure. This could be a 50-year wine.
1996 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Like the ‘95 before it, the ‘96 Jensen is a big, dense, powerful wine that is nowhere near fully mature by my assessment. In fact I circled “baby” in my notes. Lots of earthy spices, leather, and dark, saturated fruit. Looked like Syrah in the glass. Big wine with plenty of time left in its drinking window.
1996 Calera "Selleck" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Another Selleck with tons of savory, umami tones. Turned earth, meaty notes, camphor, cedar. Powerful structure, tons of terroir-driven character. Awesome wine.
1997 Calera "Jensen" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
A distinct herbal amaro-like character defines the ‘97 Jensen. Pine, wintergreen, briary red fruits, leather. Fascinating wine even with most of the fruit backing off. Texturally still very much keeping it together. This would be awesome with richer game or braised pork.
1997 Calera "Mills" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
A very complete and balanced wine with nicely developed soft, rich fruit and warm earthy tones. Seemingly younger and holding more fruit than Jensen. A really nice expression of Mills.
1997 Calera "Reed" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
Another set of tasting notes showing the consistently classic markings of this block. Highly floral nose, exotic Asian spice, elegantly fruited, with wonderful purity and persistence. Time and time again in this lineup, wines from Reed were just intoxicating with their distinctive aromatic profile, and this one is no exception.
1998 Calera "Mills" Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir $69.95
The cool, damp growing season of 1998 produced a distinctly minty, herbal, vibrant wine.
Stay tuned for more about this amazing set of wines!