The 2018 vintage was one for the books. From start to finish Mother Nature kept us on our toes, delivering anything and everything except a typical Sta. Rita Hills weather pattern. The season began with an early bud break followed by a few sporadic frost events. Overall, seasonal temperatures were moderate to cool rendering uniform berry set. As the season started winding down the disease pressure intensified but an unexpected blast of extreme heat near Labor Day finally bumped sugars high enough to cue harvest. As temps cooled again, harvest slowed to a steady pace. Four weeks into picking we experienced ten days of high humidity conditions (residual from a tropical storm to the south) followed by an intense fire season. The final crop yield was moderate and required notable tending. We harvest our grapes based on the ripeness of the tannins. For Pinot Noir this usually occurs between 24.5-27.0 Brix with the 2018 vintage coming in at an even 25.0. The clusters were then gently destemmed with no crushing. The must was cold-soaked in open-top fermenters for four days. Each tank was manually punched down throughout maceration. Upon completion of primary fermentation and maceration, the free-run wine was transferred to tank for settling. Finally, the individual lots were racked to barrels and aged for 18 months prior to blending and bottling.