This is 100% Melville fruit from our Sta. Rita Hills estate, and is a collection of 14 pinot noir clones. Yields were 1.9 lbs./plant (1.7 tons/acre), and were hand-harvested over a four week period. 67% of the fruit was gently de-stemmed with 33% fermented as whole-clusters in small (1.5 ton) open-top fermenters. Total skin and stem contact averaged 30 days (7 day cold soak, 2 + weeks of fermentation and 1 + week extended maceration.) From the press, the wine was transferred directly into barrel (16% new Sirugue French oak), where it remained sur lie with no sulfur until April, when it was gently racked for the first time and prepared for bottling in July.
Tasting Notes: With a pretty, dark red-blue hue, this wine opens with lifted fruit punch aromatics of black raspberry, black cherry, fig and watermelon. Spice nuances of pink peppercorns, oolong tea, iron and sesame seed follow. This wine balances the complexity with feminine grace as hints of purple flowers and hibiscus radiate while also yielding to oceanic themes of sand and iodine. These aspects manifest cohesively on the palate bolstering its presence with significant texture and verve.
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