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Wine Details
Price:
$32.00 per bottle
Description:
This is the 20th vintage of Pinot Noir that I have made from the eleven acres of grapes grown on our Carneros estate. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to “fine-tune” each block in this vineyard to give me exactly what I want, allowing me to create what is, in my mind, an almost perfect Pinot Noir. I find it funny that vastly different grapes can come from such a small area; there are vine rows that I know will give me dense fruity characters, and other rows that I know will contribute structure; part of the vineyard gives a distinct blueberry character, while another part has more bramble-berry flavor. It has taken me years to learn these differences, and every year I still find something new.
The 2005 is a wonderful wine, structurally much like 2004, but with far more refined Pinot Noir fruit characters. I have reduced the amount of oak for this particular vintage, because I didn’t want to “muddy-up” these lovely characteristics. In the nose, you’ll find that wonderful palette of aromas that Carneros is famous for: brambles, dark cherries, and coffee. The mouth follows through with these characters, but is so rich and full of classic Pinot Noir fruit that it is almost explosive. This wine is truly a stunning creation.
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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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