Passion Pinot Noir 2015


Passion is a supple, new world Pinot with a light color and an inviting “rose petal and soft cherry” nose - an excellent Russian River Valley Pinot showing poise and grace.


Fragrant cherry and rose petal nose with good intensity, a very pleasing experience. Bright in the mouth with an elegant hint of strawberry and red cherry flavors giving way to elements of fine-grained tannin and mineral culminating in a sensational finish. Keep this wine for a few years and then only share it with a very close friend.
The 2015 year delivered another stellar vintage. A mild winter caused early bud break, followed by protracted bloom and unseasonably cool weather in spring, resulting in smaller grape clusters and variable crop size. So although there isn’t a lot of it, the quality of the crop this year was exceptional, the fruit enormously flavorful. *Passion* was hand-crafted from the Vine Hill vineyards, approximately half from the north block and half from the south block. The Vineyard is 100% Pommard clone on 104-14 rootstock. The vines are trained to double cordons with 15 to 17 clusters per cordon yielding 3.00 to 3.25 tons per acre. The cool growing conditions with foggy mornings and ample warm sunshine contribute to the complexity of the fruit and the incomparable finish. The gravelly Gold Ridge loam is the distinguishing characteristic of the Vine Hill region that produces the most outstanding Pinot Noir in the world. Here the clay and gravel soil is covered with 12 to 18 inches of Gold Ridge Sandy Loam from which this vineyard produces rich elegant Pinot Noir with soft mouth feel and a long delicate finish. We do not blend *Passion* with any other clones preferring it to be 100% Pommard, aged in medium toast French oak barrels for eleven months.
100% French Oak: 40% New; 35% One Use; 25% Neutral
This wine was not blended - as the vineyard gives it to us we give it to you. The grapes are cold-soaked for pre-ferment maceration, fermented in small, temperature-controlled, open-top tanks with punch downs occurring as needed during fermentation followed by 30 to 45 days of post-ferment maceration. The free-run wine is then consigned to Burgundy French oak barrels for approximately 11 months. Only 367 cases of the 2015 Passion were produced.
Color Red
Vintage 2015
Style Red Burgundy
Appellation Russian River Valley
Varietal Pinot Noir
Date Bottled 31st Dec 1969
Alcohol 14.50%
Bottle Size 750ml
PH Level 3.6