These Pinot Noir vienyareds are all located in the cool valleys of Mendocino County . We employ tanditional Burgundian wine making methods along with extended aging for 30 months in 5% new French Burgundy oak barrels.
This wine is dark purple garnet in color and Burgundian in style; with rich, full and attractive aromas/flavors of ripe black cherries, plum, toasty oak and hints of earth. Soft tannins, balanced acidity and a rich, velvety mouth-feel produce a luscious wine that is enjoyable now and will develop more complexity with additional aging in the bottle.
Background
2019 PINOT NOIR Mendocino County
This is the 26th release of our Mendocino Pinot Noir. Mendocino County’s cool climate produces a very elegant and rich style of Pinot Noir with balanced acidity, dark color, full tannins and very fruity flavors. Our style is much more French Burgundy than California.
Vineyards
The grapes for this wine come from four truly unique vineyards located within three distinct appellations within Mendocino County. 45% of the blend is from the Valley Foothills vineyard in Anderson Valley. 25% is from the Naughty Boy Vineyard located in the high elevation Potter Valley, which is grown next to the headwaters of the Russian River. 28% is grown by Roger Webb, which is located against the eastern foothills of Redwood Valley. 2% is Pinotage grown by Tom Barret in the Talmage district.
Winemaking
All of the fruit was hand-harvested between 24 and 25 degrees brix. After crushing, approximately 20 percent of the grapes were added whole-cluster to cold soak for four days before fermentation. Some of the lots were allowed to ferment with their indigenous yeast. The must was punched down twice daily for an average oftwo weeks to gently extract color, flavor and tannins. After a gentle pressing, the wines were racked into 5% new French oak barrels where they finished malolactic fermentation with their indigenous malolactic bacteria. The wines were aged on their secondary lees for 30 months then egg white fined and bottled.
Winemaker Comments
This wine is dark purple garnet in color and Burgundian in style; with rich, full and attractive aromas/flavors of ripe black cherries, plum, toasty oak and hints of earth. Soft tannins, balanced acidity and a rich, velvety mouth-feel produce a luscious wine that is enjoyable now and will develop more complexity with additional aging in the bottle.
Food Pairing:
Delicious companions with this wine are duck with dried cherries, sage-roasted double pork chops with stuffing, and roasted lamb with Mediterranean vegetables.
Harvest Date: September 24th – October 24th, 2019
Fermentation & Aging
Fermentation: 3 days of cold soak, punched down or pumped over twice a day for 13 days in stainless open top fermentors
Aging: 30 months in French and Burgundy barrels (5% new)Wine
Blend: 97.5% Pinot Noir 2.5% Pinotage
Alcohol: 14.3%
Total Acidity: 6.4 g/L pH: 3.58
Residual Sugar: 0.6 g/L
