Banshee Marine Layer Pinot Noir 2016 Front Label
Banshee Marine Layer Pinot Noir 2016 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

Banshee

Banshee

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In the relentless pursuit of wines with balance, elegance, and purity, they have developed relationships with some of the most storied vineyards in Sonoma County and beyond to craft Banshee. The main focus for Pinot Noir is on the cool, rugged, coastal areas of the far Western Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley and Sonoma Mountain. Each vineyard has a unique combination of a specific influence, soil type, elevation, age and exposure but the common thread is that it allows the pursuit of Pinot that achieves power without weight. They allow the grapes to express a certain transparency. They highlight a wide range of flavors other than just fruit. Banshee Wines started in 2009 at a bar in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. With money borrowed from their friends and family, Banshee Wines was launched with eight barrels of coveted Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. The Banshee belief is that the best wines from California are yet to be made...and they plan on producing some of them. They strive to makes wines with the complexity and deliciousness of those found at the very top of the quality and price scale, but at a price that is affordable for everyone and not just the uber-wealthy. The Banshee Tasting Room opened in August of 2013 in downtown Healdsburg, a refreshing and relaxed take on your typical tasting room. It’s more like hanging out at their house and sharing some wine with family, rather than bellying up to an ever-crowed tasting bar. Today the Banshee Wines mission remains the same as it was in those early days – to craft distinctive wines that over-deliver in every possible way.
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The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.

Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.

SPRBANMPN16C_2016 Item# 355912