Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley, 2018

Winemaker's Notes

This vintage is proving to be a perfect fit for our style of wine. Good verve, aromatics, luxuriously textured without being gaudy…

Classic black cherry/orange peel nose. I always look to have good non-fruit elements to balance this AVA signature: Herbal, lees, new barrels, etc. Yet with a year in bottle, the cherry fruit and perfumes are getting into higher gears of the bicycle. Types and percentages of new barrels vary according to site and vintage character as always. Interestingly though it seems to hover most of the time near 40% overall new. I experiment a bit with types of barrels in a small way in order to continue refining the mix. Unfortunately, unlike the way albums like Disraeli Gears were produced, I only get one take per year to adjust the mix…live.

I like the way this wine centers itself. It is as though it is clear as to its personality -not diffuse or conflicted, but focused. On the mouth it is exactly what the nose promises. Straight ahead pleasure and satisfaction. There is a homing beacon of acidity and core fruit that emerges on the finish, beckoning to return to the glass just as Ulysses’ heart drew him back to Penelope and Ithaca. Or could that instead be the Sirens’ singing? This is Pinot Noir after all.