2018 Wildcat Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
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Minerally & earthy. Smooth & round with hints of vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, roasting coffee & black pepper.
Wine Specs
Vintage
2018
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
Aging
20 months, 55% new French Oak
Alcohol %
14.6
Wine Enthusiast
94
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
An alluring minerally, earthy nose of pine bark, dust, iron, granite, slate, leather and green chilies…The palate is very smooth and round with hints of vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, roasting coffee, dark spices and black pepper with a long rich finish. Sunshine and darkness at the same time.
Vineyard Notes
Situated high on the southern flank of the mountain range defining the western edge of Sonoma Valley, Wildcat Mountain Vineyard is an outlier relative to any other vineyards in the area. The highest vineyard in the appellation at an elevation of 750’, it sits on well-drained rocky soils of volcanic origin, exposed to the full brunt of fog and grapes. Formerly grazing land, the vineyard was established by Nancy and Tony Lilly with their partner, Steve MacRostie in 1998. The quality of the vineyard bears testimony to the vision and tenacity of several generations of Nancy's family, which has been the steward of this land since 1940.
Production Notes
We picked the grapes on Wildcat Mountain on September 26th. The stems were well lignified, so we included slightly more than 25% as a whole cluster component. The grapes were sorted and destemmed, then quietly rested until an ambient fermentation took off about a week after harvest. The fermentation, along with frequent punch-downs, went to completion 10 days later, then the fermenter was sealed up for an extended maceration. Forty two days after picking, the tank was drained, the remaining grapes were pressed, and the wine was barreled, using barrels from five different coopers to help add layers of complexity; we selected barrels from all five of our favorite coopers to help create complexity: Marcel Cadet, Remond, François Frères, Dargaud et Jaegle, and Rousseau. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel. The wine remained unracked until just before blending and bottling.
Production
11 barrels / 270 cases produced