2023 Petaluma Gap Pinot Noir

Almandite garnet in color with aromas of dusty strawberry, red cherry, raspberry, cranberry and cola-spice. Medium body with a soft entry and subtle tannins. Bright, fresh natural acidity and gentle toasted oak create a pleasant and juicy finish. TG (3/24)

Cool winds and summer fogs off the Pacific bring natural acidity and intense fruit flavor to the wines from this region. Slow, cool whole berry fermentation and hand punch downs increased the wine’s complexity. Ten months of barrel age brought balance and added structure. This excellent wine will be most enjoyable over the next five years. TG (4/24)

For our first exploration of the Petaluma Gap AVA we looked to the Nightwing Vineyard; which was developed in 2017 and planted the following year as a mosaic of 35 blocks featuring 44 acres of pinot noir and 30 acres of chardonnay. The vines we harvested average 6-7 years old, and the grapes benefit from Western exposure, drinking in the sun and cooling breeze of the Pacific Ocean. The vineyard is CSWA Certified – Certified California Sustainable and farmed using some of our favorite regenerative techniques, like alternate row cover crops and tilling between vines.

Rainfall: 14 inches (above normal)
Bloom: June
Weather: Late and prolonged harvest due to consistently cool weather throughout the growing season.

Harvest Date: 5 October
Grapes: Average Brix 24.6˚
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed and crushed, pumped over a floating cap twice daily.
Barrels: 50% American oak and 50% French oak barrels (20% new, 5% one year old, 20% two years old, 15% three years old, and 40% five-plus years old).
Aging: Eleven months in barrel

Hand-harvested grapes fermented on the indigenous yeast, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring malolactic bacteria; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 55 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.