WINEMAKER’S NOTES

This Ridgecrest Pinot is heavy with fruit, in the marionberry to brambly, black currant realm. With umami salinity on the nose, it shows dark flecks of tobacco, rich wood and forest floor. The palate has great balance of fruit and texture, length and restraint, velour-like tannins and reasonable acidity. It finishes with dark toffee and warm cranberry sauce. An amazingly elegant wine from one of our earliest vintages ever.

VINTAGE OVERVIEW

The 2015 vintage was slightly different in early growing season timing from 2014, but the final effect was the same, big heat, big crop and big expectations. The acids are down, the alcohols are hovering around 14% and the work we did to minimize over extraction resulted in more elegant wines than a hot vintage deserves. Similar to 2014, the fruit was impeccably clean and devoid of disease. We focused on restraint in 2015, and it rewarded us with incredible Pinot Noirs with density but not heaviness, nicely polished velour-like tannins and reasonable acidity. Four progressively warmer vintages, we will just learn to count higher—more heat, more fruit, more, more!

2015 - Velvety | Exuberant | Boysenberry

93 Points - Vinous
92 Points - James Suckling
91 Points - Wine & Spirits
90 Points- Wine Spectator
90 Points - Wine Advocate

Read More: Deep Dive with Dave | Ridgecrest Vineyard