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2021 Pinot Noir
Description
Winemaking Notes
Ripe cherry, red plum, and dusty baking spice aromas lead to caramel and umami flavors of mushroom, clove, and earth with subtle layers of toasted oak; silky tannins over good supporting acidity last through the creamy finish with dark plum and spice flavors in our 2021 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
History
Rod Strong was among the first modern wine pioneers with a vision to plant Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley. In 1968, he planted our heritage River East Vineyard in the alluvial clay-loam soils adjacent to the winery in Healdsburg. Today the Russian River Valley is well established as one of the premier Pinot Noir growing regions in the world, and we continue to rely on the original River East Vineyard as a core contributor to our estate vineyard bottling.
The Vineyards
The 2021 vintage was mild and dry. Seasonable weather made for pleasant spring and summer days. Due to the ideal ripening conditions, we predicted an early harvest. But Mother Nature had other plans and as we checked berry sugars in the late summer the blocks seemed to need a little more time to ripen than predicted. As the vines developed full flavor, we harvested each block separately in the early morning hours over the course of five weeks, August 26th through October 1st.
