winemaking

All the fruit was carefully sorted, destemmed and crushed with high whole berry content. After cold soaking for 4 days, they were fermented for 10 days with the maximum temperature of 86 degrees in a small open top fermentor with the emphasis being gentle. The malolactic fermentation took place in the barrel. The wines was racked once, blended and bottled in January of 2018.

tasting notes

After picking late in the season the previous year, we opted for an earlier pick in 2016. As a result, this is all about intensity. It hails from a cooler place, west of Anderson Valley in a warm vintage so that the ripeness shows as well as refreshing acidity. For a Pinot Noir, it is relatively dark with notes of cherry liqueur, vanilla, plum, cranberry, cinnamon and sage, backed up by toasty oak in a long finish. Try it over 2 days as its firmness and intensity slowly reveals its complexity. It should easily last 8-10 years under proper cellar conditions.