Nose
A nose of ripe strawberry, dried cherry, plum, and
potpourri.
Palate
The palate shows red currant,
blackberry, cherry, cinnamon, and even a
touch of nectarine. Ripe and intense yet
with an underlying minerality, there is
incredible depth on the finish that will take
several years in bottle to fully develop.
Harvest
The season unfolded event-free, with normal budbreak, and good winter rains to fill the soil profile,
giving us the resources for a promising season. Strong and even shoot growth is one of the benchmarks
for a good season. Flowering occurred late in May, which is very normal, indicating we would pick in late
September. Temperatures at flowering were mild, leading to a healthy fruit set. Most of the summer
months continued with mild weather, allowing for less stress on the vines and causing a slightly larger
berry size than normal, which is one of the reasons 2012 was so bountiful.
The season continued quite perfectly for us growers, with no untimely weather occurrences; overall it
was a mild to cooler season. September saw a few days of heat, which helped to push harvest into gear.
And happily, harvest continued over the course of weeks, allowing us to focus on each of our vineyards,
and blocks, picking them at peak maturity. After the stress of 2011 this was a wonderful gift. All our fruit
was harvested before the first Fall rains visited the valley in mid-October.
Bottling
BOTTLING DATE: February 5, 2014.
Winemaking
The 1870 Pinot Noir comes from the three finest blocks on our Estate Vineyard, two of which are on the
prime West sloping face and provide the West Slope bottling, and another in a flatter area which
provides the bulk of our Estate Grown Pinot Noir. Each lot is treated individually to maximize it unique
characteristics, with different pick dates and fermentation management, as well as different coopers
used to age the finished wine.
Aging
The juice spent from 17 to 33 days on the skins, before being drained to
French oak with each barrel aged without racking for 14 months.
Appearance
The 2012 is deep ruby in color.
