Winemaker Notes
2012 delivered extremely well-balanced fruit with an amazing fragrance and deep, full body. It also offered excellent color, which we bring out by pressing in whole clusters. The fruit goes into open-top fermenters where punch downs are performed several times each day. When fermentation is complete, the wine is placed in French oak barrels for about 10 months of maturation; the wine is racked several times. Lush on the palate and velvety in texture, this Director's Cut Pinot Noir unleashes a beautiful perfume of raspberries, rose petals and cloves, followed by deep, dark flavors of cherries and plums, sensuous spices, earthy notes, tea leaves and sandalwood, all of which build and linger on the finish.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.