2004 Pinot Noir, Nicholson Ranch Vineyard, Sonoma Valley
Released
December 2008, 169 cases produced
Internet-Direct Price: $45.00 / 750 mL bottle
Our winemaker has noticed an even-year/odd-year pattern ? while odd-numbered vintages give us wines that are very shy and closed-in during their youth, the even-numbered years yield wines that are wide-open and giving early on and throughout their lives.
Our 2004 Nicholson Ranch Vineyard Pinot is much more open than our 2003 bottling from this vineyard. The spicier of the two Sonoma Valley Pinots we produced in this vintage, the Nicholson is explosively aromatic - at least in part because we included whole clusters on stems in the fermentation. Yields from this vineyard were down in 2004 compared to the yields we saw from the Carneros vineyard.
Winemaker's tasting notes:
In the glass the wine shows a medium garnet-red color and excellent clarity. Cherry and Christmas spice aromas jump out of the glass, with overtones of wood resin, oak, lime and mint. In the mouth the wine shows medium body and a complex fruity and spicy palate, great acid structure balanced with angular tannins, and a bright finish. Crushing one-third of the fruit on stems into this fermentation has produced a wine with flashy aromas and textures, which continues to evolve in the bottle.
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The 2004 vintage gave us Pinot Noirs that are open and generous. Our Nicholson Ranch Vineyard Pinot is lively and spicy.
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