2006 Pinot Noir
PinnaCole

Our Russian River Valley Winter between 2005 and 2006 had been very rainy with the Russian River flooding. Those heavy rains allowed us to "dry farm" our vineyards the entire season of 2006 - meaning no irrigation other than the rain we got from Mother Nature. This produced very focused complex, concentrated layers of flavor without any need for heavy handed winemaking for all our 2006 wines. Especially our very special Estate grown "PinnaCole" Pinot Noir (a play on "Pinnacle" meaning "The Peak", along with a nod towards Guy's oldest son, Cole Davis, our cellarmaster).

This Pinot was made specifically from 3 particular barrels from our "Soul Patch" Pinot Noir vineyard - from 3 different places on the slope. Two from the section which is planted to the Pommard Clone and one that is planted to the 777 clone right at the top of the hill. Guy Davis, owner and vintner said at the time that this was possibly the most serious Pinot he'd ever made and it reminded him more of the young wines he had tasted in the cellars in Burgundy when he was working in France.

We knew this particular wine would cellar very well for many years because of its structure, but little did we know that it would continue to grow in complexity and taste even through today, almost 20 years later. Earthen and leather notes, as well as a variety of red fruits from cherries, cranberry and pomegranate, that move darker into cassis and boysenberry as it opens in the glass.

If you are a fan of French Burgundy you will flip, if you are a fan of Russian River Pinot, you will flip - it is that perfect meld of each character in one bottle of wine.

We only made the "PinnaCole" Pinot Noir in 2006 and 2007 and thought these bottles were long gone until we discovered there were several more cases we didn't know about stored at our wine storage facility in Santa Rosa.

2006 "PinnaCole" Pinot Noir, Soul Patch: Only $60 a bottle while it lasts (Club members, you get 10 percent off).