2017 Gravel Pit Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

WSI93+ A rich aromatic nose followed by ripe strawberry jam juice, notes of dry herbs and a seductive savory brightness. Lots of structure, depth and the promise of a long evolution. 

The Vineyard
Being from Napa, I needed some introductions to vineyards in Sonoma where I live with my family. A very good winemaker friend of ours stepped up vouching for us and helped us to obtain Pinot Noir from one of the most sought after and prized vineyards in Sonoma.  The vineyard is located in the hills of southwestern Sonoma. This very special site is influenced by the pacific ocean to the west and the San Fransisco bay to the south.  The well drained soils are derived from volcanic parent material, and is very gravelly, and rocky. We received two clones of pinot noir from the very well farmed site. Clone 115 known to be one of the only pinot noir clones to make stand alone quality wine, and the Swan clone, which is very aromatic.
 
Fermentation and Aging
The grapes were hand harvested at night to ensure cold fruit for a three day pre-fermentation maceration.  Friends and family hand sorted 80 %of the clusters to the berry level after adding 20% whole clusters to the small stainless steel fermentation vessels. We then allowed fermentation to begin with native ,and selected yeast strains. After fementation we aged the wines  on fine lees for 11 months in 30% new, 35% I yr and 35% neutral, experienced French oak barrels. We elected to bottle the wine un-fined and unfiltered.

Vintage
As we all remember ,we had a  big winter proceeding the 2017 season. The big event was the heat wave just at harvest . The  grapes from our 2 pinot blocks  were very close to ready and  they suffered significant dehydration. What was important in terms of quality was to extend the picking as far as possible after the heat to allow the grapes and  vines to recover. The brix got as high as 27. However when we finally picked  just before the next heat a week later the brix had dropped to 24 and 23.5 respectively.