Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Block 21 Viento Mar is produced with grapes from their plot number 21 in the windier part of San Antonio Valley, the la Palma sector, hence the name (Viento Mar means "sea wind"). 2015 was an early harvest with lower yields. The vines were 11 years old and were planted on granite soils with a significant amount of red clay. The grapes were hand-picked between April 7th and 10th, destemmed but uncrushed, put through a cold soak and fermented in open tanks with neutral yeasts. The wine aged in 50/50 new and second use French oak barrels for 12 months. There are aromas of sour cherries and exotic spices. The palate is juicy and with the granite freshness quite marked. Approachable and pleasant.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Its rolling, coastal hills encouraged great investment in the 1990s from those in search of a cooler grape growing environment compared to those found in Chile’s Central Valley. All of the vineyards of the San Antonio Valley, which runs north to south and parallel to the coast, experience the cooling effect of the ocean and are made of vine-loving clay and granitic soils. While Sauvignon Blanc put this valley on the Chilean wine map, high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are emerging and some producers are starting to experiment with sparkling wine.