Nose
A spicy, toasty nose loaded with blackberry, raspberry and black cherry aromas.
Palate
The palate is rich and full, with black cherry, fresh plum, cocoa and herbal notes. Good acidity carries these flavors through to a long, full earthy finish.
Clean veins of minerality support the radiant dark red fruit all the way through to the vibrant finish. Sweet black cherries, flowers and mint linger on the finish.
Growing Conditions
Being touted as the one of greatest California vintage of all time for Pinot Noir, the cooler season of 2009 is perfection at Sonoma Stage vineyard, where low yields and a long growing season combine in wine that is both impressively rich, and wonderfully complex. Heavily influenced by coastal fog and wind streaming through the Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Stage provides the perfect climate to slowly ripen Pinot Noir. Planted by the renowned Hyde family, this vineyard is situated in Sonoma Coast’s marine influenced micro-climate. The site is quite cool and windy, with nights often blanketed by the protective marine fog layer keeping yields low. Again, demanding low yields in all of our vineyards, the environment naturally presents us with intense small clusters with very little need for additional thinning.
Winemaking
The clonal make up of the wine is 50% Calera and 50% Swan Clones. To maximize complexity and intrigue in the wine, the clones were co-fermented with 10% of the clusters whole. Fermenting with native yeast and minimal cap manipulation, this designate wine preserves the freshness and expressive fruit in this beauty.
Aging
Pressed at dryness, the wine was aged in tight grain French Cooperage (50% new) and put to rest until bottling.
Appearance
Dark ruby in color.
