Featured Today
2005 Pinot Noir, Haynes Vineyard, Napa Valley
Released
March 2010, 174 cases produced
Internet-Direct Price: $45.00 / 750 mL bottle
The cool 2005 vintage was beset by weather early in the season. Frosts after budbreak and rain during flowering devastated the Pinot crop in the North Coast counties, with some of our growers losing 75% of their average crop.
Over the years the vines at the Haynes Vineyard have sailed along largely unmolested by the vagaries of climate. In 2005 our section of Haynes delivered 80% of an average vintage, with the decrease almost entirely due to smaller berries than usual. We have seen before that a cool vintage and low juice to skin ratio at Haynes promises to give vins de garde - wines of depth and richness suitable for long aging. Our exceptional 2005 Haynes Pinot delivers on this promise.
It is always a good thing to exit on a high note: the 2005 vintage marks the last Westwood bottling of Pinot from this old and remarkable vineyard. In 2006 owner Duncan Haynes pulled the old vines from "our" block and replanted. We had 21 vintages to learn what to do with this special fruit and are proud of the 2005: a wine of power with finesse, characteristic soil-driven aromas, deceptively silky grip, and unrivaled ageability.
Winemaker's tasting notes:
Appearance: light-medium ruby color with excellent clarity. Aromas of cola, black cherry, eucalyptus, lemon flower, flint, Christmas spice and hints of cranberry and new Bally loafers. Closed, subtle and youthful on the palate, with fresh plum and cherry flavors and a silken texture that starts at the front of the tongue and continues undisturbed and unswervingly through the long aftertaste. At this relatively early stage of this unique wine’s development, the textures are a bit disjointed - the wine is still a bit closed now but evolving nicely and with the potential to reward careful cellaring, perhaps for decades.
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We are proud of the 2005 Haynes: a wine of power with finesse, characteristic soil-driven aromas, deceptively silky grip - and our final bottling from this old and remarkable vineyard.
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