Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Analysis:
Alcohol: 13.0 %
Bottling Date: July 2008
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, this wine displays a staggeringly complex array of aromas, including a massive expression of red fruits, perfume, floral notes, enveloped by a liberal and delicious dose of smokey/toasty pecan pie characters coming from our carefully selected oak barrels. On the palate, the complexity continues with rich layers of ripe red cherry and cranberry flavours, all supported by big, refined tannins and firm, balanced acidity. The wine has a huge mid-palate and exceptional length and persistence of flavours.
Wine Making:
The 2007 growing season was one of the coolest on record in the Okanagan Valley. This cool weather, comparable to the 1999 and 2001 seasons, has enabled a slower ripening of the Pinot Noir fruit, generating fantastic varietal flavours, powerful tannins and a firm acid backbone. Consequently, we feel that this Pinot Noir is destined to be a classic.
The grapes for this wine were harvested in September, 2007 from the Burrowing Owl vineyard blocks D4 and D7. These vineyards contain a mixture of own-rooted 114 and 115 clones. Crop loads were 1.9 tons per acre on average. The fruit was hand-picked, hand-sorted, destemmed, and crushed into stainless steel tanks. It was immediately inoculated with preferred yeast strains and fermented at 28C for 9 days before pressing off. In keeping with the latest research on Pinot Noir, skin contact has been kept shorter, to enhance the ratio of skin to seed tannin. We are pleased with the results. After pressing, the wine was transferred into barrels for the completion of malolactic fermentation (MLF). The wine was racked once after MLF and then was not moved again until bottling in July 2008. The Pinot Noir barrel program for 2007 consisted of 33% new oak for 10 months. The new oak contained an equal mixture of French and American barrels using our preferred coopers, as well as a comparatively unknown (by North American standards) cooperage from Burgundy that we have recently discovered: we find the barrels to be a perfect match for our Pinot Noir. The wine is unfiltered and un-fined for maximum flavour. Enjoy!
