Our Wines

2007 Santa Rita Hills "Fiddlestix Vineyard" Pinot Noir

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About the Vineyard...
The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta Rita Hills AVA which straddle the Santa Inez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.  As a East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant.  The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several various soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard.  The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than valley floor vineyard throughout the North Coast, conspires with marine sedimentary soils and alluvials to make wines of power and exceptional structure.  This vintage marks our fifth, working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard.

About the Vintage...
The weather in 2007 remained cool and steady throughout August and September, allowing the grapes to achieve optimal ripeness levels without sacrificing acidity, resulting in wines that come close to that difficult to realize platonic point of balance between power and grace, depth and vivacity.  We expect that our decision to pick while acidity remained high, as well as our detailed attention to maximum fruit extraction, will allow these wines to preserve bright uplift and focused fruit on the mid-palate, even as they continue to age, deepening and adding exciting layers, such as spice, mushroom, cacao, and forest floor.

About the Wine...
The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days. We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device to achieve optimal extraction from the skins.  We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94°F.  The wine was aged in an array of Francois Freres and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new.  167 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...
Typical of this vineyard, the wine opens with a vibrant, spiced nose of cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, and clove, underlaid with earthy tones.  Intense, fresh red fruits lead the palate, settling on the mid-palate with focused, ripe flavors of strawberry, cassis, and currants.  Good acidity provides brightness and balance, while structure, always a strong suit for this wine, is emphasized by mouth-filling tannins.  The spicy aromatics continue through the long finish.  This vintage produced a softer, more mineral tannin than previous years, yielding a wine that is voluptuous in its youth, yet promises to age with grace for the coming decade.