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Vin Gris of Pinot Noir

Vin Gris of Pinot Noir Wine Details
Price: $16.00 per bottle

Description: The 2004 harvest, earliest yet for us by two weeks, began with picking the Pinot Noir for this wine on August 10th. We take it a bit earlier than we would for a red so the grapes still have bright focused acidity. The grapes are delicately whole-cluster pressed and the juice is fermented off the skins. The resulting wine is a brilliant salmon color (wild, of course) with hints of copper. It is fresh, floral and so delicious that we must limit ourselves at the winery to just a case apiece for personal consumption, lest we drink it all.

Varietal Definition
Pinot Noir:
The name is derived from the French words for ‘pine’ and ‘black’ alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone shaped bunches of fruit. Pinot Noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine. By volume most Pinot Noir in America is grown in California with Oregon coming in second. Other regions are Washington State and New York.During 2004 and the beginning of 2005, Pinot Noir became considerably more popular amongst consumers in the United States, possibly because of the movie Sideways. Being lighter in style, it has benefited from a trend toward more restrained, less alcoholic wines. It is the delicate, subtle, complex and elegant nature of this wine that encourages growers and winemakers to cultivate this difficult grape. Robert Parker has described Pinot Noir: "When it's great, Pinot Noir produces the most complex, hedonistic, and remarkably thrilling red wine in the world."


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