2016 Green Valley Pinot Noir

Devoto Garden Vineyard

The 2016 Wait Cellars Green Valley Pinot Noir is made from 100% hand-picked and hand-sorted fruit from the Devoto Garden Vineyard. Devoto Garden sits on a windy ridge west of Sebastopol in the Green Valley AVA of Sonoma County, California: a sub-appellation of the Russian River Valley AVA, renowned for its cool temperatures and fog, and sought after for its sandy, well-drained Goldridge soil.

2016 was a relatively mild growing year with some rain, the end of four years of drought along the North Coast.  The vines however had the previous drought years programmed in: bud break, fruit set, veraison and harvest all came on early, and while berries were larger than 2015 they were still a tick below normal at Devoto Garden.  We picked the younger block (Dijon clone 115) just before Labor Day at 23.3 brix, and the older block (Dijon clone 828) four days later at 23.1 and it soaked up a point higher. We used less stems in 2016 as lignification was wanting, fermenting just 10-15% of the fruit as whole clusters.

Fermentation was conducted solely by wild resident yeasts. We pressed into once and twice filled French oak and stirred the wine sur lie through the winter into spring.  And then we let the wine condition another year in oak, 16 months total, prior to bottling without fining or filtration. The result is a profoundly focused, honest, terroir-driven wine a touch of richness.

Production: 200 cases
Release: Fall 2019
Varietal: Pinot Noir Dijon 828 and 115
Soil: Goldridge sandy loam
Crush: Hand harvest, hand sort, 15% stems; 6 day cold maceration
Ferment: Warm, closed top, native “wild” ferment, natural MLF
Elevage: 16 months French oak; battonage through winter ’16
ABV: 14%
Aromas: Dark cherry, mushroom, clove
Palate: Firm minerality with a touch of richness
Recognition:  Double Gold, 2020 SF Chronicle Competition
 

Download: TECH SHEET, SELL SHEET

Back to Wines