Fall Release Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
2013

Winemaker’s Notes

From our tightly-planted, high density DuMOL Estate Vineyard comes our most structured and most complete Pinot Noir of the vintage – our ‘flagship’ wine. The darkest fruited of our pinots with the highest acidity but also the lowest alcohol – just under 14%. A combination of four separate harvest passes throughout the vineyard, the diversity of soil types, ripeness levels and clones builds great natural complexity into this bottling. The wine opens with vintage-derived crunchy red fruits but rapidly darkens to reveal its intrinsic Estate-signature of mixed black wild berry fruits, sassafras and dried-herb complexity. It’s a mouth-filling Pinot but always vibrant, lilting and pliant with many intricate dimensions. Quite rich on the mid-palate with obvious natural weight, this density comes from the vines, not from over ripe harvesting or winemaking tricks. The powerful broad and mouth coating tannins are a sign that many years of in-bottle development should be expected. As usual, this wine will ascend to another level given five to seven years in bottle.

The definition of Pinot complexity. Soaring multi-faceted aromas: cranberry and rhubarb, black cherry and blackcurrant, tobacco leaf, red apple skin and pine underbrush. Taut palate entry, youthful structure, focused and linear. Opens up to full spectrum of red and black fruits, gamey forest floor and black tea savory notes. Deep and layered but uncommonly structured. Building mid-palate weight, texture unfurls with air. Prominent tangy acidity and mouth-coating tannins on an extended savory/bergamot finish. Decant for an hour-plus and drink between 2016 and 2025. One to age.

Andy Smith Viticulturist, Winemaker & Partner