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Wine Details
Price:
$28.00 per bottle
Description:
This is my smallest lot of Pinot Noir, the grapes are grown by my friend, Denis Rioual, in his tiny vineyard north of the town of Sebastopol in the Russian River Valley. The first harvest was in 2003 and yielded barely one half ton. The vineyard is planted in clones of 667, 777, with a scattering of Pommard. This first harvest only produced 24 cases, with an alcohol content of 14.1%. It is a wonderful, deep and dark Pinot, tasting of black cherries and plums, with great texture and mouthfeel. It has a nice smoky nose that extends and lingers on the palate. The 2003 production was so small that I only released it to one local restaurant and one wine shop--the rest reserved for sale on my website. I am loking forward to the 2004, which will be released in spring, and of which there is more.
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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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