Landmark Grand Detour Pinot Noir 2006

Sonoma County is one of California's best regions for the production of Pinot Noir. In fact, the county's planted acres of this varietal are approximately 40% of the state's total of nearly 24,000 acres. While the traditional plantings of Pinot tended to be concentrated in the Carneros and Russian River, today's focus has been in the cooler Sonoma Coast appellation, where newer clonal material and denser spacing has led to a renaissance for this varietal in Sonoma County.

The 2006 Grand Detour Pinot Noir is a blend of five Sonoma Coast vineyards: Kanzler, Keller Estate, Flocchini, Gap's Crown and Armagh. There is also some fruit from the Solomon Hills Vineyard in Santa Barbara. The result is a wine that exhibits great typicity and elegant balance. The cool growing season in 2006 and the extremely late harvest produced a wine with strong notes of raspberry and strawberry. It was aged in 33% new oak for ten months. This is an elegant, classic Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This wine will pair well with game, duck and salmon as well as mushroom accented dishes.