Pinot Noir Hallberg Vineyard, 2022

Winemaker's Notes

This wine is from a single block of clonal material imported from a ‘fancy’ vineyard in Burgundy and has pretty much anything one could ask for in Pinot Noir. It makes up an important core of our Russian River Valley bottling, fortunately not every barrel is always necessary, allowing me to bottle some to celebrate this very special match of a rare clone to this favorable site. If I could only make one Pinot Noir, it would be this one.

This shows a nice combination of fruits and savory elements on the aroma:  hints of red cherry, potpourri, rose hips, fresh red beets, freshly sliced granny smith apple and Santa Rosa plum.  Despite the bright acidity that is the well-wrapped spine of this, there’s also a saline counterpoint that hems in the flavors that echo the aroma.  There’s a seamless flow from front to back of the mouth and from entry to finish.

I think that the extra time on lees in barrel really adds another layer of texture and savory dimension while thoroughly integrating the moderate bit of new French oak this wine has seen.  The vines are between 2 and 3 decades old now and I’ve worked with this block since it has been bearing fruit.  It was love at first crush.  The clone is unusual for our region and retains a very high level of acidity at full ripeness.

Normally, this is our last Pinot Noir bottling to ‘come around’ after bottling.  Antonio Galloni recently wrote:  ‘Unlike many Scherrer Pinots, the 2022 Hallberg can be enjoyed on release.  (92 pts)’  I held this to release as the last of the 2022 Pinot Noirs because last Winter it seemed to need a few more months to show itself more fully.  As Mr. Galloni tasted it recently, I agree that it is quite enjoyable right now.