By focusing solely on Pinot Noir from the most prestigious vineyard sites in California and Oregon, and by vinifying each barrel separately by lot, clone, yeast and cooper, we champion individuality of place and intensity of flavor in each wine we produce
Production & Technical Data
Alcohol:14.1 %
pH: 3.7
Total Acid: 0.6
Cooperage: 11 months unracked 50% new François Freres 50% neutral Remond.
48 Cases - Bottled unfiltered, unfined
Winemakers Notes
Although 2005 was generally a larger crop year for Pinot Noir, the one notable exception was the Sonoma Coast. The Hirsch Vineyard was especially hard hit with torrents of rain hitting the vineyard just as flowering was taking place. Out of our 2.67 acres of vines. we harvested a mere .8875 tons of fruit. Now that’s a tiny yield!
Yields this small present a number of difficulties. Our ability to thin the fruit in the vineyard is very limited. For example, the only way to “even out” the crop from vine to vine is to drop all of the fruit on the ground as some vines had no grapes whatsoever. Obviously, we decided to leave some grapes on the vine and live with some level of uneven ripening. These tiny yields also presented challenges at the winery. Less than a ton of fruit meant only 2 barrels of wine and that gave us very few choices as to what type of barrels to use. Fortunately, we have been dealing with the Hirsch Vineyard since 1995 and have had other low crop years. So we let our past experience guide us and we placed the newly pressed wine into 1 new Francois Freres barrel and 1 older Remond barrel. As is often the case, the Hirsch Vineyard has produced one of our more complex Pinot Noirs with its forest floor/stem flavors mixed with dark cherries and raspberries. There are also unique wet stone and allspice flavors. And, not surprisingly given the vintage, there is also a very good level of natural acidity leading us to believe that, if stored correctly, this wine will only improve with several years of aging.
RELEASE DATE: September 2006
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