2009 Pinot noir | Willamette Valley
In the Vineyard
Our 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is comprised of fruit sourced from a total of seven different vineyards. 50% of the fruit came from Hawks View Vineyard and included clones 667, Pommard, Coury, and Wadenswil. 25% came from a very old planting of Coury clone Pinot noir at Arbre Vert vineyard, 20% from clone 777 from Gran Moraine Vineyard, and the remaining 5% from a mix of clone 115 from Shea Vineyard, and Pommard clone from Coats and Whitney, Stony Mountain and Harbinger vineyards. A high number of growing degree days in 2009 enabled us to harvest each vineyard at optimal ripeness, ranging from 24-26º Brix and with an average pH of 3.6 and TAs of around 6g/L. The accommodating weather of the vintage also allowed for the ¼ ton picking bins of hand-harvested grapes to arrive at the winery in a constant steady stream over an extended three week period. No rush, no fuss.
At the Winery
The ripe and plump clusters of grapes were carefully sorted in the winery both before and after destemming to ensure clean and healthy must in all of our small-lot fermenters. A five-day cold soak on average ensued, after which many lots were showing signs of kicking off fermentation naturally. Thus, given a little nudge through warming and inoculating with BM45, 71B and BRG yeasts, fermentations were complete and reached peak temperatures just above 90ºF. A few days post fermentation maceration followed before each lot was pressed, settled and racked into French oak barrels. The oak influence in the final blend comes from 30% one-year-old barrels, 30% two-year-old barrels and 40% neutral barrels.
At the Table
The wine is a rich yet brilliant garnet color with a lively display of Bing cherries, Damson plums, sage and crushed leaves on the nose. A lush palate with focused acidity offers soft and supple tannins combined with hints of vanilla, cured meat, cassis and red licorice.
