2017 Foley Estates Barrel Select Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills
Available beginning March 22nd
Winemaker Notes
This ruby colored wine has aromas of cedar, ground black pepper, cherry
compote and toasted vanilla bean. It is a big, complex wine with lot’s of
structure and tannin to support the concentrated black and blue fruit on
the palate which linger until giving way to some red fruit characteristics of
Bing cherry and strawberry. The wine has a long finish exhibiting notes of
pipe tobacco and hibiscus tea.
Composition
100% Pinot Noir
Wine Specs
Vintage
2017
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Sta. Rita Hills
Acid
6.8 g/L
pH
3.47
Aging
18 months; 100% new French oak; TW Boswell, Gamba, Boutes
Bottling Date
April 16, 2019
Alcohol %
14.3
Production Notes
We harvest our grapes based on the ripeness of the tannins. The fruit was
hand-picked and hand-sorted in the vineyard in the cool morning hours
to preserve the aromatics. The clusters were then gently de-stemmed with
no crushing. The must was cold-soaked in open-top fermenters for four
days. Each tank was manually punched down daily throughout
maceration. Upon completion of primary fermentation and maceration,
the free-run wine was transferred to tank for settling. Next, the individual
lots were racked and aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak prior to
bottling.
Vineyard Notes
The 2017 vintage started off with an extended cool growing season
staging us for a later than normal start date to harvest. We had some
concerns, but just like clockwork, we got some intense Labor Day heat
which pushed the vines to maturation. The disease pressure was low and
quality was good so having a little patience was a good virtue to possess.
We also had the anomaly of a hard frost the first week of October with
temperatures dipping down to 29° in some of the lower elevation blocks
pushing us to pull in the last bit of fruit quickly. Harvest wrapped up on
October 23 with mother nature delivering us a roller coaster of weather
but with it a nuance and diversity of fruit expression.