This a perfect wine for both the impatient drinker and the collector. Like most well made Pinot, enjoy now or age gracefully for another 5-10 years.
VINEYARD
Hirsch Vineyards is comprised of 72 acres along the Sonoma Coast, divided into 67 individual farming blocks, corresponding to the dramatic and sudden changes in soil and aspect created by the Fault. This degree of fragmentation is unmatched even by the famously subdivided vineyards of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits. The vineyard has a fearsome diversity of soils, aspects, elevations and microclimates. This complexity defines their farming and winemaking practices: each block was individually developed and is now farmed, harvested and vinified separately. Other well known wines from this site include Kistler, Littorai and Williams Selyem.
WINEMAKING
After a 3-day cold soak, the Pinot Noir warms up naturally over 3 more days to begin fermentation with native yeasts while retaining 30% whole cluster. Hirsch Vineyards is biodynamically farmed on wide variety of soils with most of the grapes in this wine grown on fractured sandstone and clay.
VINTAGE
2016 was a good year to be a grapevine, after four years of drought the winter finally gave up a bit of rain. The growing season, although somewhat warm and early, was forgiving as the fruit came in the door in excellent shape across the board. After the lower yields of the previous vintage, it was nice to have a good amount of fruit to work with.
Vintage: 2016
Wine Type: Red, Still, Dry
Farming: Biodynamic
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Vineyard: Hirsch Vineyard
Appellation: Sonoma Coast
Winemaker: Byron Kosuge
92 Points
Aromas of blackberry, dried fig, black cherry, blackberry coulis, toasted vanilla, and a hint of cigar box. The palate offers rich and velvety tannins, dark chocolate-covered cherries, black plum, mixed berry pie and toasted walnut. Long and expressive with loads of flavor.
94 Points, Wine Enthusiast
This opulent wine opens with aromas of blackberry, black plum, violets and spice on the nose. Flavors on the palate of dark cherry, sarsaparilla and orange zest wrap around dried tobacco leaf, malt chocolate and toasted vanilla, with a long, supple finish.
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