Solena Grand Cuvee Pinot noir 06
Solena Cellars Grand cuvee is a blend of Pinot noirs from across Oregon.
MORE INFORMATION
2003 Tasting Notes
"This 2003 Grande Cuvee Pinot Noir is our best blend from four distinct vineyards in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The wine is a deep ruby red color, a result of fermenting the grapes inside a barrel. The nose displays complex aromas of black raspberry, rhubarb and blueberry with floral hints of rose hips and a slightly vegetative component. The mouth feel is big and lush with bright berry flavors and well integrated tannins. The wine finishes bold and lengthy with a touch of earthiness and lingering caramel. The wine is enjoyable now but will age for 5 to 7 years." - Laurent Montelieu
The 2003 growing season was very unusual for Oregon.
The winter of 2002-2003 started with below average temperatures and had viticulturalist and winemakers anticipating a harvest well into November.
A very cool and wet spring gave way to an incredible turnaround in late May and a heat wave in early June.
The months of June, July, August and September were the hottest ever recorded in 40 years!
The second half of September was uncommonly warm with high temperatures reaching 95 degrees.
The 2003 growing season saw abnormally dry conditions with little or no rain until October 7.
We were fortunate to have picked all of our Pinot Noirs before the October rains came.
The record levels of heat in 2003 produced fruit with exceptionally high sugar levels with ripe tannins. The 2003 wines show intense fruit with a supple body.
THE VINEYARDS
We hand selected four premium vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley: Windermere in the Eola Hills, Bailey in Washington County, Shea, Yamhill-Carlton District, Amity Hills in Eola Hills
The use of fruit from three appellations produced a wider range of flavors from which we used to create our best blend.
We follow viticultural practices that allow us to minimize the usage of pesticide and materials that can jeopardized the life of the soil.
Each vineyard site was closely monitored as harvest approached, and the picking date was chosen based on taste.
All grapes were harvested by hand under ideal conditions.
VINIFICATION
Our wines are fermented in special rotary barrels. We are the only American winery to experiment with this innovative technique that has taken the Bordeaux region over.
Fermenting the grapes inside barrels which rotate on special wheels allows us to carefully extract the color and tannins with a method that is more gentle than the traditional daily punch downs.
Cold maceration preceded the fermentation for a total of 32 days of skin contact.
The rotary barrels allow us to ferment our wines in small lots, giving us better control over our final blend. The wines were hand-crafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style.
The juice was gravity fed directly to barrels.
100% Malolactic fermentation occurred for a nine month period.
Aging took place for 14 months in French oak (50% new) barrels from a variety of coopers.
The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined.
