2007 Guadalupe Vineyard Pinot Noir ($35.00 each)

TASTING NOTE

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

VINEYARDS

FERMENTATION AND AGING

TASTING NOTES
The Guadalupe Vineyard has been producing fruit for some of Oregon’s premier winemakers for years. The Wädenswil clone produces wines with masculine characteristics and intense dark fruit. The wine displays complex aromas of toast, earth, floral notes, black cherry and plum. The mouth fills with juicy dark berry flavors and spice complemented by incredible length and tannins.

THE VINTAGE
The 2007 growing season started off strong, with bud break occurring around the first few weeks in April. Slightly warmer temperatures in the spring provided outstanding conditions for fruit set. Moderate temperatures persisted throughout the summer without any major heat spikes, allowing for perfect maturation in the grapes. We experienced a significant amount of rain in late September and into October. Rather than picking unripe fruit early to avoid the rains, we carefully managed our crop yields so the grapes could fully ripen, and implemented very strict vineyard practices to withstand the threat of mildew. Although 2007 ended up being a challenging vintage, the resulting wines are extremely elegant, vibrant and age-worthy.

THE VINEYARD
The Guadalupe Vineyard is located in the heart of wine country in the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA. The Guadalupe Vineyard was planted in 1989 with the Wadenswil clone. The elevation of the vineyard is 350 feet. The planting was done on a 5 x 7 system (vines are planted 5 feet apart, and rows are 7 feet apart), resulting in 1,245 vines per acre The Vineyard represents the definable change of Jory soils of the Dundee hills to the sedimentary soil of the Yamhill-Carlton District. The soil is Willakenzie, a well-drained shallow soil over siltstone. The vineyard is known for its compact clusters and small, intensely colored berries. The blocks were closely monitored as harvest approached, and the picking date was chosen based on the taste

VINIFICATION
All grapes were hand picked and hand sorted to ensure the highest quality fruit. Stems were removed from a high percentage of the clusters with the gentle “fingers” of the EuroPress Destemmer. The fruit underwent a 6-day cold soak prior to fermentation for a total of 21 days of skin contact. The wine was fermented in small lots in special rotary barrels allowing us to gently extract color and tannins by turning the barrels for the method of “punch down.” The wine is fermented in small lots allowing us careful control over the final blend. Gravity flow techniques were used throughout the winemaking process. 100% malolactic fermentation occurred over a 7 month period. The wine was aged for 10 months in French oak (60% new) barrels from a variety of coopers. The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined.