Winemaker Notes
Summit is made from premium grapes grown on Pali Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Summit is carefully blended to create a distinguished Pinot Noir that is complex in character yet approachable upon release. This wine is hand-crafted, using small-lot fermentation's and then barrell aged for 15 months in 30% new French oak. Notes of raspberry, juicy red cherry, fragerant french lavender, forest mushroom. VARIETAL COMPOSITION: 100% Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills, CA.
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.