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Wine Details
Price:
Description:
It has always been our philosophy that less is more and the 2002 Wedell Cellars Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir is a fine example of this. After harvest the grapes were destemmed, the free run juice resulting from the destemming was pumped off and discarded (saignee), the grapes were then cold soaked for two days and then open top fermented with the cap being punched down on a regular basis, finally after ten days of fermentation the wine was gently pressed off. Because our Estate Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir contains only free run and not any pressed wine, our Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir was then combined with the remaining gentle pressing of our Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir and placed in four new French oak and two three year old French oak barrels to age for sixteen months. The final blend of the 2002 Wedell Cellars Arroyo Grande Pinot Noir is 92% Arroyo Grande Valley and 8% Wedell Cellars Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir. While aging the wine underwent complete malolactic fermentation and in February 2004 the wine was racked off for assemblage and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The deep color and intense bouquet of cherry, raspberry and cranberry are only a hint at what an extraordinary wine we have created. The richness and complexity is reminiscent of a truly exceptional pinot noir, we feel that this wine while enjoyable now will only improve for years to come.
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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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