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Wine Details
Price:
Description:
In 1995 we planted a north facing hillside vineyard with three different dijon clones of pinot noir (clones 115, 667 &777) on low vigor root stock (rootstock 420a) with the idea to delay bud break, increase hang time and acidity while keeping the vineyard's yield exceptionally low. The 2000 Wedell Cellars Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir, the first vintage produced from this vineyard has been widely praised in the wine press, with one wine writer stating that it could be easily mistaken for Domaine De La Romanee Conti while another remarked that it is one of the best Central Coast Pinot Noirs in memory. Our Hillside Vineyard was planted at a density of almost 2000 vines per acre, yet the yield from more than 2300 vines was only slightly more than one pound per vine. The already low vigor vines were crop thinned to one cluster per shoot and no more than four shoots per vine, the average cluster was less than five ounces! Our Hillside Pinot Noir harvests a week later, the sugars are more than 2 Brix lower and the acids are higher than the rest of Edna Valley. It is our belief that especially with Pinot Noir, most of the work is done in the Vineyard, our 2001 Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir reflects this philosophy and the results are spectacular.
The grapes after harvest were destemmed, the free run juice pumped off and discarded, the grapes then spent ten days on their skins fermenting, after which only the free run juice was placed in Demptos Alliers and Troncias New Oak barrels to age sur lies for twenty-one months. The wine was never racked, it was gravity bottled off its lees, unfined and unfiltered on June 12, 2002.
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Varietal Definition
Pinot Noir:
The name is derived from the French words for ‘pine’ and ‘black’ alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone shaped bunches of fruit. Pinot Noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine. By volume most Pinot Noir in America is grown in California with Oregon coming in second. Other regions are Washington State and New York.During 2004 and the beginning of 2005, Pinot Noir became considerably more popular amongst consumers in the United States, possibly because of the movie Sideways. Being lighter in style, it has benefited from a trend toward more restrained, less alcoholic wines. It is the delicate, subtle, complex and elegant nature of this wine that encourages growers and winemakers to cultivate this difficult grape. Robert Parker has described Pinot Noir: "When it's great, Pinot Noir produces the most complex, hedonistic, and remarkably thrilling red wine in the world."
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