Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023

This cuvée comes from the estate vineyard, located in the Russian River Valley appellation, in Sonoma County, California, in the heart of the cool Green Valley sector. Fog from the Pacific cools the nights here and lengthens ripening. The vines, around twenty years old, are reaching full maturity, and the late, cool 2023 vintage allowed them to express their full potential, with remarkable concentration and purity.

The grapes, from Calera and Swan clones, were harvested on 14 and 22 September. After careful vinification, the wine is aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, 37% of them new, in order to preserve the density of the fruit while refining the tannic structure.

This wine reveals notes of black cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, hibiscus, dried herbs, cedar, Asian spices and graphite. Dark, intense and pure, the bouquet opens up and gains depth with aeration. The palate, concentrated and linear at first, becomes broad and layered, with dense flesh, smooth tannins and a marked mineral acidity that carry a crescendo finish.

In the United States, 90% of the wine produced comes from California. It was the influx of gold prospectors to California that boosted the California wine industry in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Sonoma and Napa region. At the start of the 20th century, there were 800 wineries. From 1919 to 1933 Prohibition destroyed the vast majority of the California wine industry so that by 1933, only 140 wineries remained producing wine. It was only from 1960 that the wine industry began to recover from Prohibition and California was primarily known for the production of fortified wines (in the style of Port). It was also in the 1960s that some of the most famous estates were created (Mondavi, Heitz Wine Cellars, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, etc...). In 1976, a significant event took place: the legendary tasting competition better known as the "Judgment of Paris". He sees the greatest French wines opposing the new American wines. This May 24, an unexpected result shakes the world of wine, since to everyone's surprise, it is the United States which wins. However, this competition remains relatively unknown to the general public. Today, there is no doubt that the United States produces great wines. Even though California largely monopolizes the reputation of American wines with its excellent Zinfandels, the state of Oregon produces some of the best Pinot Noir in the world and the state of Washington offers excellent Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet-Sauvignon.