La Fenetre Rita's Crown Pinot Noir 2010
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Having apprenticed with some of California and the world’s best winemakers, namely Jim Clendenen (Au Bon Climat), Bob Lindquist (Qupé), and Jim Adelman (Makor) a classic technique and delicate hand is always employed in the winery. All grapes are harvested around 23.5 brix (13.5-14% Alc.). Wherever possible, La Fenêtre is committed to sustainable, organic, and biodynamic vineyard practices. Reds are destemmed into 1½ ton fermenters and punched down by hand until dry. The free run juice is then collected, the must is gently pressed, and the wine is aged in small French barrels for 11-23 months before being bottled. Whites are whole cluster pressed, allowed to settle for one day and fermented in barrel where they undergo the alcoholic fermentation and then 100% Malolactic fermentation. They then spend 11-18 months in small French barrels before being bottled.
Internationally recognized for gorgeous, pure fruit combined with great elegance, California Pinot noir thrives among the state’s cooler, coastal zones. Characterized by eclectic flavors and aromas of strawberry, black cherry, plum and potpourri with notes of forest floor, mushroom or black tea, the best California Pinot noir boast a supple texture and good acidity, giving them the ability to improve with age.
Credited with the beginning of Pinot noir’s glory in California, two growers, Joe Rochioli and Joseph Swan in the late 1960s independently planted Pinot noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Today Sonoma County remains the leading producer of Pinot noir in the state, and Pinot noir is the leading red grape in the county, achieving its highest potential, in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
Other coastal appellations where Pinot noir flourishes include Carneros, Anderson Valley and most of the Central Coast.