Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Estate 06 |
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This is wine of dark cherries and blueberries wrapped in a rose petal package. The Wadensvil clone (at some point this will likely be the best part of the vineyard) provides such a unique level of femininity and elegance to this dark, brooding and powerful wine giving it an extra level of interest, complexity and length. The wine displays the firm, ripe tannins one would expect from this bottling and the vintage gives it a certain flamboyance and ripeness that the overall impression is of a well-focused Pinot Noir with a dark side to it that in certain parts of its aging in your cellar will come out in different ways. Dark and dramatic, both visually and on the palate. While not the monster of 2003,with tasters cowering in overwhelm, this wine is definitively a "take no prisoners" type of Pinot Noir. There is a mass, an ocean if you will, of super-dark, plum centered fruit, followed by hints of coffee, chocolate and kirsch that progress into a fairly dramatic and intense tannic finish. It is a big guy of a wine, but all is in proportion. The Estate 05 is neither a fruit bomb nor an overwhelmingly tannic monster. The wine has definition, balance and a heart of "essence of Pinot Noir". -Jim Winery Notes When we started with this property and vineyard we knew that there was work ahead of us to get this vineyard into the kind of state that we wanted. We figured that would take about 5 to 6 years. In ways we have been ahead of schedule as we have grown some terrific grapes in certain parts of the site. Overall, there have been both up and down aspects to the site. This was the 6th year and things are starting to look like we have entered into a nice zone with the Estate Vineyard. We are seeing more even cluster development, ripening and flavors in all parts of the vineyard now. Back in 2003 we started bottling an Estate and an Estate, Old Vine to capture the two specific nature's of the site; the power from the younger vines and the grace from the older vines. This bottling consists of 11 separate sections of the vineyard that have vines younger than 15 years in age on them. The heart of the wine is Pommard clone but the aromatics, which are higher toned and more delicate than you might think for a wine of its pigmentation, come from the 20% of Wadensvil clone that we are fortunate to have in the vineyard. The ultra dark tint comes from the few barrels of Dijon 777 that we have. |
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Detailed Info, Previous Vintage Notes, Reviews: |
Prior Tasting Notes Dark and dramatic, both visually and on the palate. While not the monster of 2003,with tasters cowering in overwhelm, this wine is definitively a "take no prisoners" type of Pinot Noir. There is a mass, an ocean if you will, of super-dark, plum centered fruit, followed by hints of coffee, chocolate and kirsch that progress into a fairly dramatic and intense tannic finish. It is a big guy of a wine, but all is in proportion. The Estate 05 is neither a fruit bomb nor an overwhelmingly tannic monster. The wine has definition, balance and a heart of "essence of Pinot Noir". -Jim Winery Notes When we started with this property and vineyard we knew that there was work ahead of us to get this vineyard into the kind of state that we wanted. We figured that would take about 5 to 6 years. In ways we have been ahead of schedule as we have grown some terrific grapes in certain parts of the site. Overall, there have been both up and down aspects to the site. This was the 6th year and things are starting to look like we have entered into a nice zone with the Estate Vineyard. We are seeing more even cluster development, ripening and flavors in all parts of the vineyard now. Back in 2003 we started bottling an Estate and an Estate, Old Vine to capture the two specific nature's of the site; the power from the younger vines and the grace from the older vines. This bottling consists of 11 separate sections of the vineyard that have vines younger than 15 years in age on them. The heart of the wine is Pommard clone but the aromatics, which are higher toned and more delicate than you might think for a wine of its pigmentation, come from the 20% of Wadensvil clone that we are fortunate to have in the vineyard. The ultra dark tint comes from the few barrels of Dijon 777 that we have. 2004 TASTING NOTES FROM THE WINERY The 2004 Estate is dark in color, with a nuanced nose of fruit, bramble and stone, dense flavors and texture and a zingy, tannin-laced finish. It's a wine for the cellar, or for wine lovers who enjoy a bit of structure to their Pinot. The vineyard produced a tiny bit of fruit, but what there was had a high level of complex, satisfying Pinot flavor. It's unusually complex as well as big. The first of the three bottlings from this site in 2004. That we have any at all is somewhat amazing. The 26 acres of Pinot Noir from this site produced a measly 15 tons of fruit! No one tries to crop their vineyard at .6 tons/acre. It is not a good recipe for success, at least not of the financial kind. However, Ribbon Ridge was decimated in 2004 and our vineyard, Beaux Freres and Brick House suffered crop set backs from previous vintages of at least 50%. The great thing about farming your own site is the control you have as a farmer, the care you can put into it, the reliance on it as a source of fruit year after year and, ultimately, the quality of wine you can make from it. The drawback is that in years such as this you are stuck doing the same type and same amount (and paying the same bills) of farming as you would when the plants have a full crop. For those of you eager to move out here and plant a vineyard you might want to start at the beginning of the paragraph and read it out loud. What we have though is another wine that continues to define the ever-improving quality of this vineyard. This hillside is certainly noted for producing some bigger, more structured style of Pinot Noir and this wine falls amply into that category. Again we favored our 1,2 and 3 year-old barrels over new ones (26%) to show the more terroir-driven aspects of the wine. The wine has exactly what you would expect from our Estate bottling: Deep dark color, a nuanced nose of fruit, bramble and stone, dense flavors and texture and a zingy, tannin-laced finish. Much like the 2002 and 2003 this is not a wine for the short-term. Imprisonment in a dark cellar would be recommended as the word tight springs to mind at the moment. This wine will reward patience as we have discovered with our ever-improving older Estate bottlings. If you must give it a whirl now give it a nice, strong decanting and a big, strong meal to match it up against. . 2003 TASTING NOTES This is the powerhouse of the 2003 Pinot noirs. This wine, quite simply put, is huge. Gigantic. Large. Those work well as descriptors, too. In a vintage where the lightest wine would be described as dark this particular wine stands out from the long line up. Black with tinges of purple and simply opaque.The wine offers brooding fruits that edge toward plums but enough acidity to reel it back toward black cherries. Coffee, dark chocolate and blackberry extract pile on in the middle of the wine and the wine is forceful with hearty structure. From the winery: "The first of the four bottlings from this site in 2003. This is the powerhouse of the bunch. This wine, quite simply put, is huge. Gigantic. Large. Those work well as descriptors, too. We are beginning to figure out the nuances of this site and sedimentary soil that it is planted in. As the vineyard has become increasingly healthy we have been able to coax a great deal of fruit and complexity out of the site. In 2003 these winemaking and vineyard management urgings were combined with the hot, early harvest to turn preternaturally ripe fruit into a massive wine that still sits firmly in the Pinot Noir camp. This wine was a bruiser from the get go. If anything it mellowed more than we expected in barrel. One thing that most certainly did not mellow was the intensity of the pigmentation of the wine. In a vintage where the lightest wine would be described as dark this particular wine stands out from the long line up. Black with tinges of purple and simply opaque. Give it a swirl and you have to wait for gravity to work on the wine as it grudgingly works its way down the sides of the glass to form back into a whole. The color turns into the flavors. The wine offers brooding fruits that edge toward plums but enough acidity to reel it back toward black cherries. Coffee, dark chocolate and blackberry extract pile on in the middle of the wine and the wine is forceful with structure at this point but not so much so that it is too much to take." |
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