Fall Release Ryan Pinot Noir
2004

Winemaker’s Notes

Our third Ryan bottling and without question our most balanced, complete and ultimately complex effort to date. The 2004 blend straddles the middle ground between the overt fruit richness and lush palate weight of the 2002 and the leaner, more Burgundian and soil-driven 2003. Our ninth vintage at the Widdoes Vineyard in the heart of the Green Valley proved to be our finest to date, rewarding us with wines that were at once succulent and rich yet also structured and firm with fresh mouth-watering acidity and broad, sinewy tannins. This old vine, dry-farmed vineyard has gradually become our in-house barometer for each growing season's effect on wine style: its cool, north-facing slope consistently growing wines of great transparency, allowing one to track the interaction of climate, soil and plant from year to year. To this Widdoes core we round out the blend with an addition of exotic wild berry fruit and licorice/anise flavors of Pommard clone from Jewell Vineyard, a wine of stand-alone quality in its own right and a great blending component. The combination is rich and mouth-filling, yet the fruit tones lean to the savory side of Pinot with an undercurrent of aromatic herb, tea leaf and spice.

Bright ruby/purple color. Great aromatic complexity favoring the earthy, truffle side of Pinot verses pure fruitiness. Dark kirsch, rosehip and licorice aromatics emerge with air. The palate continues the theme with violet, intense wild berries and complex tea leaves. The wine's inherent succulence is currently held in check by lively acidity and firm tannin. A lingering smoky, sweet plum note extends the finish. Our most age-worthy Ryan bottling to date, I suggest a year's aging from release and'cellaring up to ten years.

Andy Smith Viticulturist, Winemaker & Partner