Santa Rita Hills
Pinot Noir
The next stop in our "quest" to conquer the great Pinot Noir appellations of the world is a trip to the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Our travels lead us to Kathy Joseph and her Fiddlestix Vineyard, established in 1998. She has cornered a prime locale in this hot spot for Pinot where she painstakingly farms a variety of clones for use in her own Fiddlehead Pinots as well as selling to a small and select group of Pinot specialists. We are happy to be one of them. We have purchased Dijon 115 as well as Dijon 667 clones from her. The Vineyard produces dense, dark, peppery styled Pinots with brooding tannins that will need time to resolve. At first glance it appears almost Syrah-like in style but there is no mistaking the seductive Pinot fruit as the wine opens in glass. The Santa Rita Hills bottling is yet another distinct and unique expression of Pinot Noir and another tick on the mile marker for Ancien.
|
 |
|
