Element Pinot Noir 2012
-
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Pinot Noir comes in at 13.5% alcohol. It was aged in well-used French oak (10+ years) for 23 months. When last seen, this library wine showed well, but it also needed to show some improvement. As part of our vertical, let's check in. Showing black fruits more than red fruits, this is still most interesting for its structure, silky texture and finesse. The wine's fruit is dry, a little austere and a little subdued, although it does open with aeration. In flavor and aromatics, it is still understated. In other ways, it is not. It has fleshed out and shows fine depth (the barrel may help with that), admirable tannic support and a precise finish. For Pinot Noir, this is a little on the stern side, which many will think is just fine, with a strong nod to serious Burgundy. It does many things beautifully. The brand, certainly, is a future star.
Element Winery was founded to explore cool climate terroirs, to produce wines which express their origins without preconceived notions. We make delicate wines, balanced with a focus on mineral and floral aromas, low alcohol and higher acids using a minimalist approach that allows the grapes to speak for themselves. We are dedicated to producing small quantities of wines we love.
With that in mind, we will continue pushing forward, and hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor.
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.”
As the most historic wine-producing region in New York state, winemaking in the Finger Lakes area dates back to the 1820s and today as a region, accounts for 90% of the state’s total wine production.
Its narrow and deep lakes created by the movement of Ice Age glaciers create an environment similar to the classic Riesling-loving regions of Europe, namely Germany and Austria. The Finger Lakes retain summer heat that incidentally warms up cold winter air, making it fall down from the lakes’ steep slopes. When spring comes, the lakes, already cooled by cold winter weather, stave off vine budding until the danger of frost has subsided. The main lakes of the zone, that is those big enough to moderate the climate in this way, are the focal points of prime vineyard areas. They include Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga.
While Riesling has fueled most of the region’s success, today Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc enjoy some attention.