About This Product
At
Winter’s Hill Vineyard, all of our Pinot Noir comes from our estate vineyard. Despite the vines all growing within several
hundred yards of each other, we are often astounded by the difference between
the wine from one block or another. In
2006 we decided to share this variety with our customers by selecting two
individual barrels from different blocks and bottling them separately. For the 2009 vintage, we invited our
customers to help us select the barrels and held a special tasting in the
spring of 2010. Winemaker Delphine
Gladhart selected four “candidate barrels” to compare and choose between. The majority of our barrels are made from oak
grown in France, but for the past few years we have been experimenting with
barrels made from Hungarian oak. For
this tasting, Delphine selected two new Hungarian barrels, and two one-year-old
French barrels. After a weekend of
tasting and collecting the votes, we had our winners. These
“Micro-bottlings” are offered first to our Cellar Door Club members and, if any
remains, to a few lucky customers.
Block 9 of our vineyard was planted
in 1999. In this block the Pommard Clone
of Pinot Noir is grafted onto the rootstock 44-53. This is a low-vigor rootstock that slightly
advances maturity. Elevation is 600’ to
640’ above sea level with a Southwestern slope.
Wines from Block 9 often have strong, robust tannins. In 2009 the long ripening season allowed
those tannins to mature and become more round and supple. Our customer wine tasters chose wine from a
one-year-old French oak barrel, 07-R031.
Deep, dark ruby color with a hint of purple, Block 9 opens with black
cherry and blackberry fruit flavors followed by chocolate. An earthy finish with a hint of licorice
lingers on the palate. Brix (sugar content) at harvest:
24. Alcohol: 14.5% pH at bottling: 3.5
$39.00 / Bottle
