2007 Pinot Noir, Serendipity Vineyard

We frequently say that each vintage of a wine is like a new child — similar to its siblings, yet expressing its own unique personality. Amazingly, when comparing our 2007 Pinot Noir to its 2006 sister, we’ve almost come up with an identical twin. Like its predecessor, it’s a beautifully balanced wine with bright fruit flavors, dominated by dark cherries, blackberries and plums. The nose is distinctive, with nuances of bright red fruit and rose petals. Smooth and silky, this is one very sophisticated lady!

We source the grapes for this wine from a northern Monterey County site that is aptly named “Serendipity Vineyard,” for if there ever was a perfect place to grow Pinot Noir, this is it. Located directly across from the Santa Lucia Highlands, the area is famous for dry, rocky soils, steady—sometimes harsh—cool winds, and heavy fog. Combined, they create a tremendous Pinot-friendly terroir that allows for a longer growing season, resulting in a deeply colored, richly flavored, elegant wine.

The 2007 growing season was fairly mild, which enabled the Pinot Noir grapes to mature gracefully to a uniform ripeness. We harvested the berries in mid-September. The must was allowed to spontaneously ferment in ¾-ton batches. We employed cold fermentation techniques (less than 28 degrees Celsius) and performed punch-downs several times each day to maximize color and flavor extraction. Fermentation was finished in 20 days and the wine was pressed into new French oak barrels (Francoise Freres) for 180 days. We then transferred the wine to neutral French oak for the remainder of the aging.

465 Cases