Pinot Noir
Platt Vineyard, 2010

Winemaker's Notes

This is a rather elegant expression of this special vineyard just in sight of the ocean. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have selected the clones for the initial planting, knowing that this site was “on the fringe” climate wise and that any given year could be very different from the next. This is one of those cases where having an array of plant material allows the winemaker everything needed within one property. ‘Swan,’ ‘Pommard,’ ‘828,’ and ‘Calera’ seem to have a sweet spot here in either warmer or cooler vintages. Since we get both kinds even so close to the sea, it made sense to have an array like this available. The characteristics that one clone usually shows in the cooler vintages ends up being displayed instead by another clone in a rare warmer vintage. This just tells me that these characteristics are the site being expressed through a happy plant. Like the OMV Zinfandel, not everything goes into it — just what needs to.

The 2010 has not only red and blue fruits, but it also has some interesting savory notes as well. Even though the clonal mixture that was optimum this year was very different, it reminds me very much of the 2008 vintage except that it is a little mellower in its youth as it has begun to present itself in a unified way rather than a sum of parts at this early stage. Pinot Noir’s strength is its subtlety.