Winemaker's Notes
This is a ten-acre vineyard that I’ve worked with parts of since 2006. Glen and Pam Gunsalus are still highly involved in day-to-day operations, striving to provide the best fruit possible from this site, making it a joy to work together. They planted different rootstocks on the site according to soil conditions and sprinkled different clones of Pinot Noir here and there as though creating a decorative quilt. After working with several parts of this quilt, I have settled into one of these patches quite comfortably for the past 14 years or so providing what I am looking for in this section of the Russian River Valley.
Soaring floral perfumes at first lead to comforting red beets and cocoa powder. Rather full-bodied for a Pinot Noir from this neighborhood, it refuses to be heavy or stand still for a moment as it glides along effortlessly over the palate, which is a specialty of Pinot Noir. Flavors of beets, mincemeat, red zinger tea, appear as a very slow-motion explosion on the mid-palate. On the finish, there is a hibiscus note as its structural tannins weigh in just before the lively acidity drives the train off into the horizon.
