Scribe Carneros Pinot Noir 2013
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Scribe Winery in Sonoma, California, produces vibrant, terroir-driven wines. The winery – founded in 2007 on a property that pioneered pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley winemaking – is managed by fourth-generation California farmers and brothers, Andrew and Adam Mariani.
Andrew and Adam believe that the best wines are a result of a healthy relationship between man and nature, and that a vineyard managed in harmony with the greater ecosystem results in more site-specific wines that represent a sense of time and place. When vinified with non-interventionist methods, the result is a distinct wine that faithfully reflects what the vineyard naturally expresses.
The vineyard they purchased is a storied pre-Prohibition site (that had reverted to a derelict turkey farm) nestled amongst some age-old California names like Buena Vista and Gundlach-Bundschu, on the Sonoma-side of Carneros.
Andrew and Adam immediately planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, understanding the natural affinity for those grapes to the area, but they embraced varieties historically connected to the original German-born, Champagne-producing vignerons that had planted St. Laurent, Riesling, and Sylvaner in the 1850’s.
Scribe manages to be new school without forsaking the old, and they don’t just farm their vineyards organically but embrace a philosophy they call “Forever Wild Farming” that considers how the vineyard and the winery (and its kitchen gardens) can coexist with, and within, the ecosystem as a whole.
As early as the 1970s Carneros became known as a source of terrific Pinot Noir, and was one of the first California regions to gain such a reputation. The combination of sunny days, cooling fog and thin clay soils are tailor-made for the variety. Another factor in Pinot Noir’s prominent place here is vintners’ willingness to experiment widely. The history of the grape in Carneros is marked by continuous research into clonal variations, viticultural techniques and site selection. Careful evaluation over time has revealed a signature flavor profile as well. Complex aromas and flavors of cherry, red berry, spice, earth and cola appear time and again in Carneros Pinot Noir. To this day the appellation remains one of California’s standard bearers for the variety.