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
Cases: 522
Released: March 2007
Winemakers' Comments
Keefer Ranch is becoming one of our most consistent wines that we produce each year. From year to year we can expect dense flavors and intense structure. The 2004 is no different. We blended this wine from four different clones planted at the vineyard: clone 23, 114 ,777, and Pommard. The vastly different characteristics of each clone, make this wine very fun at the blending table. The 2004 is no shy wine. Right upon opening this wine you are bombarded with aromas of cloves, dark cherries, tobacco and vanilla. As the wine opens up it begins to show subtle strawberry and slight earthiness. The wine has a We have been extraordinarily happy with the reception our Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir has received over the years. The three previous vintage have all received ratings in the 90s from the Wine Spectator. This obviously puts a bit of pressure on us to make certain that the quality of our future Keefer Ranch Pinots remains at this high level.
We harvested all four clones of Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir over a seven day period at the very end of September and into early October. Most of the fruit was destemmed (we did utilize some whole cluster fermentation on Clone 23 & Clone 777 fruit) and all of the clones were kept separate throughout fermentation all the way to barrel. In addition to this, we fermented some of the fruit in a tank, others in one-ton bins, and one lot was even fermented in half-ton bins. Five different yeasts were used to undertake the fermentation (including one lot fermented with native yeasts) and all of the wine went thru indigenous malolactic fermentation. As you can see, we did a great deal to try and maintain the quality of this wine!
Ultimately, right at 60% of the barrels made the cut for the single-vineyard wine. Perhaps our favorite thing about the Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir is the rich, mid-palate texture. The aromatics are reminiscent of a stroll thru a flower garden with red raspberry fruits highlighting the upfront nature of this wine. On the finish, the wine shows good levels of natural acidity (a trademark of the 2005 vintage) and a long finish that cries out for some food.
- Adam & Dianna Lee
91 POINTS, CELLAR SELECTION
Click here for a printer-friendly version of this page
|
