Nose
The nose opens with deep red cherry and cedar spice.
Palate
In the mouth the intense cherry fruit is joined by some darker blackberry and the spice expands with earthy characters. This is all supported by a light layer of sweet French oak and toast. The mouthfeel is full and silky and balanced by bright acidity that continues through the long finish.
Growing Conditions
The growing season of 2015 brought some challenges to our harvest. The spring brought us very early budbreak but fortunately no frost. However during bloom the weather turned cold and rainy which resulted in the vines setting a very small crop. Weather through the summer was optimal without any excessive heat spikes or rain events. Between the small crop, the early budbreak and bloom the warm summer the fruit ripened to a near record early harvest. With the small crop and good weather the vines produced grapes with excellent concentration and intense character.
Main Clones: UCD 32, Colmar 538, Wadenswil 2A
Average Yields: 3 Tn/Acre
Harvest
Grapes hand picked between August 19th, 2015 and August 31st, 2015
Winemaking
WindVane Reserve Pinot Noir is the ultimate selection, starting with choices in the vineyard and then at the winery with the barrels. We pre-select vineyard blocks that are most devigorated and exposed to the intense Carneros winds, as they will give us the most intensity of flavors. The Pinot Noir grapes from individual vineyard lots were gently hand harvested at night into small 30# picking boxes in order to bring the fruit into the winery intact and cold. They were then destemmed, lightly crushed and cold-soaked in small fermentation tanks holding 3 to 10 tons each for two days to extract color and flavors. During fermentation the grape skins were punched down or wine was pumped over, one to three times per day, determined by taste, to fine tune the extraction of the skins. When optimal extraction was achieved after 10 days, the free run wine was promptly drained from the skins and seeds and transferred to French oak barrels (50% new) for aging. After 9 months in barrels, the final blend was bottled.
Aging
100% French Oak, 50% new for 9 months
Food Pairing
Black cherry and cedar blend together providing a profifile fifit for roast chicken with cherry chipotle sauce or ham with a blackberry rum glaze. Roasted beets with arugula, goat cheese and toasted Marcona almonds compliment the duo of spice and earth on the palette. The sweet oak is a match for aged Gouda or blue cheese drizzled with wildflower honey.
