It is good to be back in Anderson Valley! Some of you may know that the first Siduri Pinot Noir came from an Anderson Valley vineyard. We've wanted to return to this area for several years now and simply haven't been able to find the correct vineyard location until now.
The 2000 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir comes primarily from the Cerise Vineyard. The Cerise Vineyard is owned by Lindsay and Cherry Jones ("Cerise" is the French word for "cherry"). The vineyard is on the steep hillside above Boonville. This places the vineyard further inland than some of Anderson Valley's better known wineries and, presumably in a slightly warmer area. However, the hillside location opens the vines up to the winds that blow in from the Pacific Ocean and this has much the same effect as a more maritime location-slowing the grapes' ripening. In addition, the steep hillside location greatly stresses the vines and produces smaller but more concentrated grapes. Thus you have the makings of greatness with a long growing season and small, intense grapes.
We received three different clones of Pinot Noir from the Cerise Vineyard - Martini, 115, and Pommard, however we only choose the Martini clone for inclusion in the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. We fermented this wine in a small tank using 100% whole berries. The berries had particularly thick skins making it quite a workout to punch down the juice. After an extended (5+ day) cold soak we inoculated the juice with the Williams Selyem yeast and fermentation completed without a hitch. We drained the juice to barrel and then pressed the skins carefully keeping the press juice separate from the free run. Altogether the wine was aged in 80% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The 2000 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is the heaviest of the California Appellation pinots. On the nose it shows dark, concentrated plum notes along with hints of dried herbs. In the mouth the wine is dense and rich but without undue weight. The finish is a bit rough but the fruit carries through along with hints of vanilla from the new oak. This is still a baby and will only improve with time!
PRODUCTION: 144 cases
RELEASE DATE: November, 2001
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