2012 Poseidon Vineyard "Primo's Hill" Pinot Noir

TASTING NOTES
The intense, savory aroma of this Pinot Noir foreshadows its muscularity. Additional hints of black cherries steeped in syrup usher this wine onto the palate, where its true broad and robust nature is revealed. Deep and brooding overall, notes of baking spices and cherry fruit leather bring familiarity to the varietal. The wine ends with a long, warm finish and a touch of spice from the Kádár oak.

HISTORY
At our Poseidon Vineyard, originally planted in 1973, the maritime influence of the Carneros grape-growing season delivers cool, foggy mornings followed by warm days; ripening is nurtured slowly. At the center of our vineyard rises the seven-acre Primo’s Hill. Carneros soils began as the bed under San Pablo Bay; the silt of marine plants and animals, decomposing over time—and integrating with the finest particles of eroded rock—became clay. This darker and heavier soil comprises most of the vineyard land in Carneros, but as the Bay retreated and the drainage of Napa and Sonoma Valley cut through the clay, deposits of pebbles accumulated on the embankments. It is one such gravelly patch that is exposed on Primo’s Hill, allowing for better drainage and reduced soil compaction and resulting in deeper root penetration. The two-acre flanks of Primo’s Hill consistently produce our finest and most distinct Pinot Noir, which we capture in this reserve bottling.

VINTAGE
The growing season in 2012 was long and relatively cool. Harvest was one of the latest on record, beginning in late September and lasting through mid-October. Extended hang–time allowed for ripe flavors to develop without compromising natural acidity, keeping the youthful flavors of the wine fresh and intact. The elevated geography of this particular block in the vineyard allows for quicker draining soils which aids in achieving ripeness in cooler years like 2012.

WINEMAKING
The band of soil that transitions between the upper and lower parts of Primo’s Hill is a gentle, pebble-and-gravel slope. It is here that the fruit for this special wine is farmed. Flavors develop fast on this “skirt,” and the fruit is concentrated with the classic essences of Pinot Noir. Lower yields and the higher skin-to-seed ratio provide the tannin backbone of the wine. The grapes are destemmed then fermented hot in small tanks for a quick extraction. While the juice is still warm and active, it is placed into new Kádár Medium Toast Plus barrels. These barrels are kept in the warmest part of the cellar to continue the fermentation process. This early transition to barrel is what distinguishes the flavor prole of this wine from its peers. The smoky, charry notes of the fresh oak barrels steep into the young wine and add to the savory, reductive aromas of this Pinot Noir. After 20 months in barrel, the wine is racked off lees and bottled without fining or filtration.

Alex Beloz, Winemaker 
Michael Terrien, Founding Winemaker