2008 Pinot Noir, Serendipity Vineyard

Of all wine grape varieties, Pinot Noir has a reputation for being the most fickle — it’s sensitive to climate and soil variations, tends to mutate at random (that’s why there are so many different Pinot Noir clones) and requires extreme patience and skill to craft into fine wine. But, as one of our best customers once observed, “Pinot Noir is like love. When the right one comes along, you know it.”

Our 2008 Pinot Noir is the right one, for certain. Elegant and complex, it’s a traditional Pinot Noir, laden with Bing cherry flavors and kissed with aromas of rose petals and leather. We crafted this wine from fruit grown in Northern Monterey County at a vineyard we named “Serendipity.” Its dry, rocky soils of decomposing granite and limestone, complemented by steady, cool winds and cloaks of fog, are perfect for this temperamental variety. The terroir allows for a much longer growing season, which imparts deeper colors and richer flavors in the finished wine.

Methodé: The 2008 growing season was mild, which allowed for slow grape maturation and uniform ripeness among clusters. We harvested in early October, two weeks later than the previous vintage. The must was allowed to spontaneously ferment in ¾-ton batches. We kept the fermentation cool (less than 28 degrees Celsius), and punched down the cap several times daily to get the very best color and flavor extraction. Fermentation was complete in 18 days and the wine was then pressed into new French oak barrels (Francoise Freres), where it remained for 180 days. The wine was then transferred to neutral French oak for the remainder of the aging process.

460 cases

100% Pinot Noir Pommard, 667 and 115 clones on 110R rootstock