2015 Mindego Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir Magnum
$136
100% estate grown, single vineyard Pinot Noir from our 8.7 acre home vineyard, 8 miles from the Pacific in the Santa Cruz Mountains. To preserve the beauty and nuance of this ocean-influenced, cool climate mountain vineyard, our Pinot Noir is made in small lots by non-interventionist methods – hand sorting, native yeast fermentation, hand punch downs. Aged for 11 months in ¼ new, ¾ neutral French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Beautiful drinkability now, with exciting cellaring potential. 13.7% Alcohol. 302 cases produced.
Acclaim For This Bottle
“The 2015 Pinot Noir is fabulous. The decision to use 50% whole clusters, almost by necessity in 2015, resulted in a Pinot that is both rich in fruit and also aromatically lifted, not to mention also quite a bit more expressive of this site and the Santa Cruz Mountains more broadly. Deep and plush, as the wines from this site can be, but not at all heavy, Mindego Ridge’s 2015 Pinot Noir is a total knock out. The saline-influenced finish offers a compelling counter to the intense, pliant fruit. The whole clusters are very nicely integrated, even at this early stage. Quite simply, the 2015 Pinot is fabulous. Don’t miss it.” 94 Points. -Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Technical Notes
In The Vineyard
The 2015 growing season could be described as a tragic romance with heartbreak, folly and a silver lining ending. Despite warm winter months and early bud break, May’s unrelenting cool, damp weather during bloom handicapped pollination and led to poor fruit set and shatter. A little more than half of our normal crop size developed into viable fruit. Late summer heat spikes of several 100-plus-degree days then harkened fast and early ripening of the crop that remained, hindering normal sizing of fruit prior to veraison. This produced clusters half their normal size with tightly packed tiny berries. The beauty that quells this farmer’s heartbreak is that the limited amount of wine made from the 2015 vintage shows deep concentration with amazing acidity, fine grained tannins and the structure to cellar for years to come.
In The Cellar
To preserve the character of both the vineyard and vintage, our Pinot Noir is made in small lots with minimal intervention in the cellar. Gentle de-stemming, with the addition of 50% whole cluster and no SO2 on the crushpad. Whole berries are cold-soaked until native fermentation begins, then given daily punchdowns. After approximately two weeks on skins, wine is gently basket-pressed to 1⁄4 new, 3⁄4 neutral French oak. Wine completed native ML fermentation November 19th. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Data
Appellation: Santa Cruz Mountains
Winemaker: Ehren Jordan
Acreage: 8.7 acres Pinot Noir, 100% Estate Grown
Exposure & Slope: South facing mountain slopes, 20-25%
Soil Type: 10-18” of silty clay loam over fractured shale subsoil
Marine Influence: 9 miles from the Pacific, adjacent to redwoods
Elevation: 700’ to 950’
Clone Selection: Dijon (114, 115, 667, 777, 828, 943)
Rootstock Selection: 420A and 3309
Vine Spacing: 7’ x 4’ (1600 vines/acre)
Yield: 0.8 tons per acre
Harvest: August 18-22, 2015
Barrel Regimen: French Oak, François Frères, 25% new
Barrel Aging: 11 months
Finished Alcohol: 13.7%
Chemistry @ Harvest:
22.8-23.7 Brix
3.31-3.35 pH
7.8-8.3 g/L titratable acidity
Bottled: August 17, 2016
302 cases produced
