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2006 Two Vineyard Pinot Noir
Delicate garnet in hue, this is textbook Monterey Pinot Noir! Cola, black cherry and dark oak all come screaming through at first whiff, with classic varietal flavors of cherry, forest floor and mushroom, with a meaty/earthy character framing everything. Red cherry is fruit accented by tightly structured tannins highlighting the tactile impressions of this nicely proportioned wine.
The Vineyard and the Vintage
The Santa Lucia Highlands sit on a plateau on the eastern facing slopes of the eponymous mountain range. The appellation has gained a stellar reputation as an ideal growing area for Pinot Noir. The Vigna Mont Nero vineyard is planted in stony granite based soils and chilled by cool maritime fog. This Pinot Noir was grown on 60% clone 777 and 40% clone 115.
The 2006 growing season started with heavy winter rains, but the weather turned mild and dry for the rest of the year. There were very few dramatic heat spikes during the summer. The mild summer and a protracted autumn allowed a long hang time for most varieties, which translated into relatively low acid levels and soft mouth-feel2006 Vigne Monte Nero Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands
Elegant and well-balanced this Pinot has rich, earthy flavors, layered with robust expressions of red & black fruit character in the nose and mouth. The luxurious mouth-feel can be attributed to the soft tannins and to the barrel aging regime. We used a combination of 40% new oak (80% French, 20% Hungarian) for aging.
The Vineyard and The Vintage
The Santa Lucia Highlands sit on a plateau on the eastern facing slopes of the eponymous mountain range. The appellation has gained a stellar reputation as an ideal growing area for Pinot Noir. The Vigna Mont Nero vineyard is planted in stony granite based soils and chilled by cool maritime fog. This Pinot Noir was grown on 60% clone 777 and 40% clone 115.
The 2006 growing season started with heavy winter rains, but the weather turned mild and dry for the rest of the year. There were very few dramatic heat spikes during the summer. The mild summer and a protracted autumn allowed a long hang time for most varieties, which translated into relatively low acid levels and soft mouth-feel2006 Chualar Canyon Pinot Noir, Salinas Valley, Monterey
Our 2006 Chualar Canyon Pinot is delicate and feminine, with unmistakable Pinot Noir characters of forest floor, rhubarb and bright red cherry. The lively acidity in this wine is due to the vineyard’s northerly location, and in the mouth, the wine is reminiscent of black cherry chutney. The soft tannins can be attributed to our very gentle handling of this fragile variety and the use of only very fine grain oak in our barrel-aging regime. We used 40% new barrels; half French oak and half Hungarian.
The Vineyard and the Vintage
The Chualar Canyon Vineyard is the most northerly vineyard in the Salinas Valley, located only 10 miles from Monterey Bay and directly in line with its marine breezes. Consequently, it’s a very cool growing site. The block from which we pick our grapes is planted entirely to Dijon selections of Pinot Noir, and our ‘rows’ contain clones 667 and 777. Trellising is vertical (Vertical Shoot Positioning) to increase sun exposure in this unique site.
The 2006 growing season started with heavy winter rains, but the weather turned mild and dry for the rest of the year. There were very few dramatic heat spikes during the summer. The mild summer and a protracted Autumn allowed a long hang time for most varieties, which translated into relatively low acid levels and soft mouth-feel.
