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2021 Pinot Noir
Description
Winemaking Notes
This wine opens with a hint of minerality before notes of ripe strawberry and cherry fruit fill your senses. Toasted marshmallow, baking spice and creamy tones follow in a nod to the choice of oak barrels. The rich mouth is balanced with acidity underpinning flavors of cherry, spice and savory notes. The finish is elegant, showing classic flavors of cherry compote and toasted oak through the end.
History
Davis Bynum Pinot Noir showcases terroir: differences in flavor from distinct sites in the Russian River Valley. Our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir blends the characters of three distinct Russian River Valley neighborhoods and select blocks from the Petaluma Gap to create a wine with richness, balance and complexity. The darker fruit tones, richer mouthfeel and velvety tannins come from fruit grown in the warmer climate of the Santa Rosa Plains with its clay-rich soils underlain by volcanic ash. The fruit grown on the sandy soil of the warm Middle Reach neighborhood on Westside Road add to the spice, floral and red cherry fruit tones. The fruit from vineyards in the much cooler Green Valley neighborhood add fresh blueberry and vibrant acidity from the lauded Goldridge sandy loam soils. And a select piece from our hillside vineyard in the Petaluma Gap, within view of San Pablo Bay, adds racy acidity and briary fruit to the blend.
The Vineyards
The 2021 vintage was mild and dry. Seasonable weather made for very pleasant spring and summer days. Due to the even temperatures, we predicted an early harvest, but we found that the blocks were ripening slow and steady and needed a little more time to ripen than in previous vintages. The cooler climate Dutton Ranch vineyards picked earliest due to lower yields, largely due to a higher percentage of smaller, seedless berries, which are nice to have for concentration in the finished wine. Predictably, the warmer vineyards in the north and central neighborhoods picked after that.
