2022 Summer Dreams ‘Twilight’ Pinot Noir West Sonoma Coast

TWI97 Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2022 Twilight Pinot Noir slowly emerges from the glass with the most beautiful perfume of rose bud tea and dried lavender, opening out to a core of kirsch, black raspberries, and mulberries, plus hints of underbrush and iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is intense with mineral-laced red and black fruit flavors, supported by grainy tannins and lovely freshness, finishing on a persistent ferrous note.
WSI97 A dark edge with dark fruit, black cherry, and black plum with hints of the salty sea-spray and misty fog rolling into the Sonoma Coast from the Pacific Ocean. The full-bodied palate beams with flavors or wild blueberries and licorice, white pepper and cloves that lead to an undercurrent of violet. Seductive, with a velvety texture and seamless freshness, finishing long. 100% new French oak, 20% in puncheons. Whole berries 100% destemmed and fermented in a mix of new and used French oak puncheons and open top tanks.
DEC97 This is the most layered, the richest expression of the Summer Dreams Pinot Noirs. Twilight is the most powerful time in life, the point between light and darkness, between day and night, when we are at our most productive, and this wine, according to proprietory Jayson Woodbridge, embodies all that. ‘It has incredible staying power, showcasing Pinot Noir at its most muscular—like a warrior Pinot. It will carry you through the darkest times,’ he says, and indeed, it does carry the light and dark as it unfurls with black cherry and spiced plum fruits, dark chocolate, and saline minerals. Its rich, creamy, and powerful character is underscored by fabulous minerality and brisk acidity. This wine makes a compelling argument for the power of Pinot—never underestimate it. Jayson doesn’t care if you accept the style; he makes it boldly and unapologetically. ‘It’s like the Darth Vader of Pinot—dark, intense, yet undeniably good,’ he says. Fabulous umami notes of long-roasted beef and intense charred mineral character, seaweed, and everything the ocean can deliver in your glass are also present. All this from 100% Pinot Noir from the West Sonoma Coast, Annapolis, and Fort Ross-Seaview AVAs. Whole berries are fermented in open-top tanks and puncheons with a mix of Demptos and Taransaud barrels from blonde, tight-grained Vosges forest wood. The wine is bottled unfined. In 2019, Jayson Woodbridge of Hundred Acre began producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the Summer Dreams label, using fruit from cool-climate vineyards on the extreme Sonoma Coast.