JOSH JENSEN
PERFECT PINOT​
Lauded as perhaps the greatest of all Pinot Noir producers in the United States, founder of Calera Josh Jensen is a true American winemaking pioneer. For decades, Calera has been at the very top of the wine industry, bringing Old World know-how to the New. With a collection of products made in the Burgundian tradition capable of standing up to even the greatest and storied of those houses, Calera Wine Company is poised to be regarded as one of the greatest producers on the globe for years to come.
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Josh Jensen's story begins in the 1970s, when he began to explore his passion for wine in Burgundy with the legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The time he spent honing his craft at this estate would influence his winemaking style for the rest of his life, and it is with this new knowledge that he returned to the United States and began establishing himself as a producer to be reckoned with. He would go on to purchase a number of vineyards on Mount Harlan, prized for being rich in limestone and benefitting from a climate incredibly similar to that of Burgundy. Today, Calera is the only house that produces wines of the Mt. Harlan appellation, functioning in essence (as well as in practice!) as a Monopole.
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After collecting rave reviews from the world's most respected oenological authorities like trinkets, Josh Jensen eventually graced the cover of Wine Spectator magazine in October of 2013, an honour befitting of a man of his stature. "Pinot Pioneer" they called him. In truth, he and his house are far more than that. Calera stands today as a monument to the New World's potential, and has undoubtedly played an integral part in its rise. Discover more below...