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2007 Pinot Noir
Winemaker's Cuvée Release Date: 9/2009 Retail Price: $ 39/bottle Availability: 361 cases Production Notes The Winemaker's Cuvée was inspired by wine critic and friend many years ago. His challenge was to make a high quality Reserve Pinot noir by blending stylistically different terroirs to produce a wine that reflected the best qualities of each site. The opportunity arose in 2007. The blend comes from Freedom Hill, providing structure and ageability and Vitae Springs, providing elegance and finesse. This Pinot noir complements rich stews, roasts, cheeses and grilled meats. When served young, this wine is best opened 1-2 hours before serving . It is drinkable at release and will benefit from aging up to 9 years. |
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Winemaker Notes
A number of years ago, the wine writer for the Wine Advocate, Pierre-Antoine Rovani, suggested that I make a reserve-level blended Pinot noir, His rational was that I possessed vineyards with diverse personalities and that by carefully selecting lots, I would be able to produce a wine with the best attributes of all the sites. Power while retaining finesse, layers of fruit, earth, mushrooms and spice might be achieved in a single wine. Being dedicated to the concept of terroir, I was unwilling to blend away some of my best lots. However, the challenge was not forgotten.
In 2007, a unique opportunity arose. I had a beautiful crop of fourth leaf Pinot noir at Freedom Hill Vineyard, known for producing rich, powerful wines with great earthiness. Being fourth leaf, it was too young to produce as vineyard designated wine. I also had lovely, relatively old vine fruit from Vitae Springs Vineyard, as well as a many tons of very young Pinot from the same site. Vitae Springs is know for producing very elegant Pinot with nuanced spice overtones.
I decided that the blend of the young Freedom Hill and the older Vitae Springs might just produce the Rovani challenge wine. The grapes from the two sites were blended in the fermenter and the resulting wine was quite exceptional. By the end of the aging period, we decided to declassify 50% of the lot and use the remaining half (the best barrels) to produce the 2007 Winemaker's Cuvée.
2007 was one of the more challenging harvests in the past decade. The season began early with sunny and dry weather in May and June. Bloom was about a week earlier than normal indicating that we would expect to begin picking in late September. The crop level was thinned significantly in late July targeting yields of between 2.1 and 2.7 tons per acre for Pinot noir.
September was cooler than normal and the cool weather continued into October. Intermittent rains slowed maturity and increased the risk of rot. Sunny periods between the rain events allowed the critical process of ripening and flavor development to continue. The tension mounted as waited and prayed for sun watching the acids soften, the tannin sweeten, and the flavors gain complexity. The first grapes were finally picked on October 5th, ten days later than expected. By October 15th, all of the fruit was picked, making 2007 our shortest harvest. The extended hang time produced exceptional white wines and complex, layered Pinot noirs.
Tasting notes
The 2007 Pinot noir, Winemaker's Cuvée has an alluring nose of wild flowers, dark cherries, black raspberries, morels and a chocolate shake. In the mouth it bursts with layers of sweet berries, pie spices, white pepper, and apple pie crust. Full with sweet tannins framing lush fruit and an underlying sweet acidity, it leaves your mouth watering for another taste. Its long finish continues with berry fruits, cedar box, and ground spices.
Match with your favorite comfort foods, from meat loaf to your favorite winter stew. Exceptionally well balanced, this wine can be enjoyed in its youth or aged for up to eight years.
Mark Vlossak, winemaker