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Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Wine Details
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Description: Our final pinot from the Wiley Vineyard near Navarro at the very northern end of Anderson Valley. Harvested September 24 and October 4. The grapes are destemmed only, retaining a high proportion of whole berries, to 1 ton open top bins. The fermentations are punched down by hand twice daily for two weeks till pressing and barreling after one day of settling. The two lots were kept separate until blending prior to bottling. The fruit character was quite different and the combination of the less ripe first lot and the riper second seem to be very complimentary. The wine is a bright ruby color, very limpid in the glass with jammy strawberry aromas with a spice bouquet of nutmeg and white pepper. The flavors feature a very bright fore of ripe strawberry/raspberry fruit with good body, ripe integrated tannins and good length. A very pretty, light and lively wine.

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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