2016 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
This delicious vintage from rich soils of the Fiddlestix Vineyard is ready to drink now and almost sold out!
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2016 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
(not eligible for discounts)About The Vineyard…
The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant. The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard. The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure. This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard.
About The Vintage...
We received much needed rain in the winter of 2015, which put us back on the road to having healthier levels of soil moisture. The 2016 vintage began early, much like the previous vintages, and the optimal growing season caused us to speculate that this would be a very early harvest as well. An unseasonably cool spell visited us mid-summer, slowing down growth. After this brief spell, very warm days followed by cool nights finished off the growing season, giving us a great balance of ripe fruit and mouthwatering acidity. While not as early as projected, our harvest still ended up wrapping up long before the rains of October came.
About The Wine...
The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days. We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device in order to optimally control extraction from the skins. We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94°F. The wine was aged for 17 months in an array of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new. We held the wine in bottle for nearly a year before release.
207 cases produced.
Tasting Notes...
Youthfully bold with notes of fruit and exotic spice, this wine is enjoyable to drink now with plenty of life to give for years down the line. The nose greets with rich notes of black cherry, ripe blueberry, wet slate, and blood orange. Fresh dark fruits lead the palate, and the focus settles on ripe flavors of blackberry and currants spiced with peppercorn and tobacco. The firm, velvety and mouth-filling tannins emphasize structure, while ever present acidity balances and brightens. The spicy aromatics and flavors continue through the long finish. Cellaring this wine for a decade or beyond will reveal a silky texture hidden beneath layers of relatively powerful tannins that dominate its early years.
2015 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
A smooth Pinot Noir that enrobes your palate with its rich, mouth-coating character.
2015 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
(not eligible for discounts)About The Vineyard...
The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant. The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard. The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure. This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard.
About The Vintage...
Small but intense, the 2015 vintage did not give us a lot of fruit to work with but what we received yielded outstanding wines. The drought continued and its effects were only exacerbated by unseasonable weather – warm in the winter on into spring resulted in early bud break, yet cold weather during flowering resulted in an uneven fruit set, which ultimately meant smaller crops. Once summer arrived, it brought warmth with it and led to another early harvesting vintage. Attention to detail in the vineyard meant that the grapes that made it to harvest were high quality . . . giving us wines with exciting flavors and a lot of personality!
About The Wine...
The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days. We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device in order to optimally control extraction from the skins. We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94°F. The wine was aged for 17 months in an array of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new. We held the wine in bottle for nearly a year before release.
199 cases produced.
Tasting Notes...
Generously fruit forward and bold in its youth, the rambunctiousness of this wine is enjoyable to drink now with plenty of life to give for years down the line. The nose greets with rich notes of black cherry, blackberry, wet slate, and blood orange. Intense fresh fruits lead the palate, and the focus settles on ripe flavors of blackberry, cassis, and currants spiced with peppercorn, and tobacco notes. The firm, velvety and mouth- filling tannins emphasize structure, while ever present acidity balances and brightens. The spicy aromatics and flavors continue through the long finish. Cellaring this wine for a decade or beyond will reveal a silky texture hidden beneath layers of relatively powerful tannins that dominate its early years.
2014 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
Bold and generous, this luxuriously structured wine shows the more powerful side of Pinot Noir.
2014 Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
(not eligible for discounts)About The Vineyard...
The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant. The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard. The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure. This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard.
About The Vintage...
Timing is everything in life as well as in the vineyard. 2014 marked another year of record-breaking drought, however the year began with adequate soil moisture supported by well-timed rains resulting in an overall pleasant growing season. Warm and moderate weather with plenty of sun ripened grapes completely and made this an early budding and early harvesting vintage. Since everything was basically ready to pick at the same time, this made for an extremely intense harvest of long hours to ensure all the grapes received the attention they needed. Similar to the last two vintages, this year gave us an average sized crop with this one yielding soft, hedonistic wines that showed delicious fruit very early on – even in the barrel far before bottling!
About The Wine...
The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days. We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device in order to optimally control extraction from the skins. We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94°F. The wine was aged for 17 months in an array of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new. We held the wine in bottle for nearly a year before release.
172 cases produced.
Tasting Notes...
This is a bold and generous Pinot, rambunctious in its youth with plenty to give over years in the cellar. The nose is densely packed with rich notes of black cherry, blackberry, wet slate, and blood orange. Intense fresh fruits lead the palate, and the focus settles on ripe flavors of blackberry, cassis, and currants intermixed with spicy peppercorn, and tobacco notes. Brilliant acidity provides brightness and balance while firm, mouth- filling tannins emphasize structure, always a strong suit for this wine. The spicy aromatics continue through the long finish. Cellaring this wine for a decade or beyond will reveal a silky texture hidden beneath layers of strong tannins that dominate its early years.