2008 Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir ($50.00 each)

TASTING NOTE

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

VINEYARDS

FERMENTATION AND AGING

TASTING NOTES
This is our second release from the Hyland Vineyard. The nose is at first fruity with cherry, blackberry and raspberry tones that evolve in notes of cedar, sandalwood and mint. The mouthfeel is very vibrant and balanced with black cherries and blueberries enhanced by an herbal touch. Both supple and firm on the palate, this wine is perfectly balanced and expresses a lovely, long finish.

THE VINTAGE
The 2008 vintage is becoming a new benchmark vintage for Oregon, following in the foot steps of the great 1999 vintage which was mostly characterized by a very long, beautiful Indian summer. The 2008 season started almost a month behind normal bud break times and the unfortunate rainy episodes during the fruit set caused a smaller crop load than usual. The overall growing season was cooler than average and resulted in late maturing of the fruit; we saw some veraison only occurring in the month of September. Fortunately for us the rain did not come in the month of September and October. Having started a month behind, we all felt that we had “dodged the bullet,” and did not realize we were about to create a wine that will be part of our wine history.

THE VINEYARDS
The Hyland Vineyard, planted in the 1970s, was purchased by the Montalieus and their business partners, the Niemeyers, in May 2007. Located in the Coast Range foothills southwest of McMinnville, the vineyard has been the source of fruit for many acclaimed wines. The estate is 200 acres, with just over 120 acres planted to vines. The vineyard rises from an elevation of 600’ to just over 800’ on primarily south sloping bench-land. Soils are volcanic Jory and some Nekia, a shallower version of Jory. The vineyard is comprised of 47.21 acres of own-rooted, old-growth Pinot Noir, 41.84 acres of newer, grafted Pinot Noir clones, 6.43 acres of own-rooted, older Chardonnay, 11.04 acres of Riesling, 6.1 acres of Gewurztraminer, and 6.75 acres of Muller-Thurgau.

VINIFICATION
The grapes were hand-harvested and hand-sorted. Our EuroPress Destemmer gently removed the berries from their stems with a fingerlike mechanism causing minimal fracturing at the stem base. Cold maceration preceded the fermentation for a total of 19 days of skin contact. The fruit was then gravity-fed directly into tank and punched down daily by hand. 100% malolactic fermentation occurred for a 7 month period. Using barrels from a variety of coopers, the wine was aged for 13 months in French oak (80% new). The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined.