2002 PINOT NOIR

VINEYARD:
Battle Creek Vineyard
BLEND: 100% Pinot Noir
CASES PRODUCED: 335
RELEASE DATE: September 2004
RETAIL: $49.99

Wine Notes
The wine possesses a beautiful dark garnet burgundy hue from the almost opaque center to the rim. Alluring aromas of violets and smoke immediately emerge from the glass. Complex spice, sweet raspberries, bing cherries, blackberries merge with earth notes and hints of black licorice. Very ripe and perfumed, the aromatics lead to a rich and succulent palate. The opulence of the wine is given firmness and definition by the ripe tannic structure. Classic, broad, and intense, the wine finishes with a sustaining depth and a pleasing purity of flavor.

A perfect growing season
The 2002 vintage was perhaps the most perfect growing season on record, with rain and sunshine appearing exactly when needed. The fine weather during the growing season and at harvest not only allowed the grapes to be picked when they achieved an average of 24.5 brix, but also when the flavors and aromatics had become truly physiologically ripe.
Beautifully concentrated and ripe, the grapes were picked from late September through mid-October. The yields were very low at 1.1 to 2.0 tons to the acre on average.

The winemaking process
Winemaker Sam Tannahill worked long hours in the winery during crush to ensure the fruit he had so painstakingly cultivated would result in the highest quality wine possible. The grapes were fermented 100% de-stemmed in small, individual clonal lots. Punched down one to three times a day, the wine was lightly pressed and racked into French oak barrels—80% of which were new. The wine was racked and blended in late August 2002 and bottled in mid-November 2002 without undergoing filtration.

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