2022 Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir

Our Reserve Pinot Noir is sourced from our finest vineyard in Los Carneros, in the far northwest corner of the Carneros appellation. Unlike the uplifted bay-bottom clay soils in most of the Carneros region, the soils at our estate vineyard are influenced by volcanic origin. This site’s well-draining, rocky upland soil and location close to the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay make it an ideal place to grow Burgundian varieties. Up to 20 distinct Pinot Noir clones are planted here, and these reserve-quality grapes yield impeccably balanced Pinot Noir with abundant personality. A selection of Dijon clones perfumed the wine with floral and vibrant red-fruit notes, while Pommard clones enhanced the wine’s dark-fruit flavors, structure and minerality.

The grapes for this Reserve Pinot Noir benefited from our state-of-the-art optical sorter technology, which scrutinizes every berry to obtain the highest quality fruit. We fermented the must in stainless steel tanks until dry. Gentle pump-overs during fermentation extracted flavor, color, and tannins from the skins. We then pressed and transferred all the wines to small oak barrels coopered with French oak to develop and integrate flavors over the next 18 months.