Tasting notes

This Pinot Noir has a good color, an inviting, aromatic and sweet bouquet of black cherry, light blackberry and coffee notes. The flavors are sweet and multi-layered with red and black cherry and blackberry, finishing with chocolate and coffee characters-all within an earthy frame with light oak and vanilla notes. The wine texture is sweet and rich. The ripe fruity flavors that linger complement the spicy black pepper finish

Wine maker notes

• Grapes harvested October 8th through 25th • Crushed into seven-ton open top stainless steel tanks and 24-ton stainless steel rotary fermenters • Five to seven days cold maceration in open tops • Open tops warmed and inoculated with six different yeasts isolated in Burgundy, Germany, Switzerland and Italy • Two to three times a day the fermenting grapes were pumped over to allow good extraction of flavors and color from the grape skins and seeds into the fermenting juice, and to control temperature within the tanks • Maceration lasted 10 to 18 days in the open top tanks • The rotary fermenters were inoculated with yeasts when filled and allowed to start fermentation without a cold maceration period • Maceration lasted six to 10 days in the rotary fermenters. Because the tank is laying on its side, horizontally, the surface area of contact between juice on grape solids is greatly increased. The tank itself rotated, like a concrete mixer, duplicating a gentle punching down. The flavors and color extraction are maximized in a shorter maceration period. • New wine inoculated with malo-lactic bacteria and transferred into 60-gallon barrels • This blend aged nine to 10 months in oak barrels with 29% of the oak new, (86% of the new oak was French, 2% Hungarian and 12% from Minnesota and Oregon) • Bottled in September 2002 after tank blending • Alcohol: 13.1%

Food pairing

This Pinot Noir is a good food match with salmon, light red meat, dishes prepared with wine sauces, and chocolate.