Tasting Notes

Release Date: Fall 2008

We’ve been growing and making Pinot Noir on this same piece of mountain soil for 65 years. Believe it or not, this is the longest lineage on our continent. What can one say after an historic run like this?

2006 was a strong vintage. The winter was cold with adequate rainfall and good fruit set in the spring. What really sets up the vintage quality, however, is the weather in the fall during the final ripening; 2006 was text book with a long, slow, cool finish. 1991 was a vintage of similar style. My library has precious few bottles left of that stand-out year.

This pinot has lovely transparency in the aromas—red berries, oriental spices and earth; medium weight on the palate with fine delineation of raspberry-plum flavors with firm acidity and length, all but guarantee grace and longevity.

Production

846

Tech Notes

Yield: 2 tons per acre Harvest: September 9th-19th Numbers @ Harvest: 23.9 Brix, 3.6 pH, 8.0 grams acidity Barrel Regimen: French Burgundy 50% new; 50% 1 year; aged 12 months in barrel Bottling: August 2007; no fining or filtration Alcohol: 13.8%

Reviews

90 points Wine Spectator - May 2009

Fragrant plum and black cherry fruit has a touch of anise, herb and sage, with a minerally, medium-bodied texture.  Ends with a complex mix of fruit earth and olive.  Drink now through 2016.—JL

90 points Steve Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar  - December 2008

Good medium red. Raspberry, smoke and a whiff of peppermint on the nose.  Juicy and intense but tightly wound, with a lightly minty quality to the currant flavor.  Nicely delicate, lively pinot with a texture that’s more Burgundian than new world.  Finished with subtle length and dusty tannins that reach the incisors

89+ points Robert Parker Jr's The Wine Advocate - December 2008

Issue # 180

The medium ruby-colored 2006 Pinot Noir Estate’s sweet nose of black cherries, dusty earth, and spice is followed by a silky-textured wine displaying a Côte de Beaune-like style emphasizing red fruits and earth, and a spicy moderately long finish.  Consume it over the next 7-10 years.