APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
Wädenswil 2A & Pommard UCD4
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 2006 & 2009
BOTTLED
April 2021
BRIX AT HARVEST
22.5°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
345 Cases
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
It was clear something was different with the 2019 harvest when fruit flies were spotted at Thistle Vineyard over Labor Day Weekend. The second sign was the dramatic shift in the weather forecast. At the end of August, we believed we would have a “warmer and drier” than average September/October. Sounds good huh?!?!? Then, at the end of September we got 2.7” of rain… which is double the average, and we had one of the coolest Septembers on record. We remembered and applied the key learnings from prior similar vintages in our approach to the 2019 harvest – get the grapes as ripe as possible with as little fruit degradation as possible. Even with a longer hang time this year the grapes had less sugar, high pHs and high acids. Consequently, we based our picking decision more on the taste of the juice and looking at the weather. We had 5 distinct rain events from when we started harvest on September 3 to when we ended picking on October 10th, and these individual rain events sometimes lasted multiple days. In the end, we got as much ripeness as possible and are very happy about what we put into
barrel.
WINEMAKING
The fruit for this wine was farmed organically on our estate, and was hand harvested at peak ripeness on September 26th and 28th. The picked fruit was de-stemmed and sent straight to fermentation with a combination of commercial yeast and our house native yeast cultivated from our vineyards. During it’s ~21 day fermentation, cap management was performed with strictly punch downs of the 3 ton fermenters, it was a cool vintage resulting in long, cool fermentations. Once the fermentation process was finished, the wine was pressed of the skins at dryness and barreled down in 100% French oak barrels with 24% new oak, and left to age for 16 months before bottling.
WINE PROFILE
On the nose, this wine expresses wet forest floor and mushrooms, complemented by prune, dried cherry and cinnamon. On the palate, the nose largely carries through, though it is joined by nutmeg and tobacco.
PAIRINGS
This wine will pair beautifully with boeuf bourguignon or lamb tagine.
THE STORY
The Watershed Block Pinot Noir comes from fruit harvested off of a section of the vineyard planted by founders Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser in the early 70s. Although replanted in 2006/2009 on rootstock, cuttings from fruiting vines were taken from the original plantings and grafted onto rootstock for the replant. The original section of the Estate vineyard has a diversity of clones present.
SCORES
92 points – Wine Spectator
94 points – Wine Advocate
92 points – James Suckling
92 points – Decanter
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
Pommard UCD4
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 1998
BOTTLED
March 2020
BRIX AT HARVEST
23.3°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10-15 Years
PRODUCTION
423 Cases
CERTIFICATIONS
Made with 100% certified organic grapes
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The spring of 2018 was warmer than the average over the previous 10 years, and fairly dry. Bud break happened in mid-April and Bloom in early June, which can be a treacherous undertaking as the spring weather can mess up a healthy flowering. A giant hail storm descended on the DundeeHills in early June, but luckily none of our Sokol Blosser Estate crop was ruined. The summer started like one giant furnace; July was a hot month and we had a lot of above 90 degree days. Just when it seemed like the hot weather would not stop, August came and more moderate weather with it. This helped slow the ripening down, and even cooler weather in September allowed us to let the grapes hang longer, resulting in riper fruit without additional sugar accumulation. The 2018vintage is our coolest growing season since 2012, and we believe it will be our best vintage since then.
WINEMAKING
The grapes from this block were carefully hand harvested on September 19th. The clusters were then sorted by hand to remove any flawed bunches and 100% de-stemmed directly into their fermentation vessels, 1/3 going in to an oak upright fermenter and the other 2/3 in 3 ton stainless steel fermenters. The wine was inoculated with our house native yeast and spent 24 days on the skins with cap management done by a combination of pump overs and punch downs. After being pressed at dryness the wine was aged entirely in French oak barrels for 18 months with with 17%new oak.2018 had such luscious fruit it was important that it really shined through, which is why we used less new oak. We use primarily one cooper of barrels to age this wine in and their highest end barrel. 18 barrels were hand selected for this blend.
WINE PROFILE
Our 2018 Goosepen Block Estate Pinot Noir exhibits fragrances of black cherry, licorice and leather, with more cherry and licorice on the palate followed by a dash of clove.
PAIRINGS
This wine pairs really well with anything off the grill, from rib eye cap to portobello mushrooms.
THE STORY
When Alex Sokol Blosser (our winemaker) was growing up, this block was not planted to pinot noir, but riesling. During this time Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser tried their infamous and failed experiment of fencing it in and releasing a flock of geese to consume the grass. Since then, the Sokol Blosser’s have always called it “Goosepen.” When we had to re-plant the block due to Phylloxera, it was decided that the highest and best use of that site was for pinot noir and not for riesling. This was not a failed experiment. To this day, Goosepen is Alex’s favorite of our single vineyard blocks.It does not have the rich tannins of its northern neighbor, Big Tree, nor the finesse of the OrchardBlock. It has fruit. A lot of rich fruit that can be heavy some years (2014) and complex in other years(2012 and 2015). Drinking a glass of Goosepen always reminds Alex that experimenting is a two edge sword; sometimes you get the goose, and sometimes the goose gets you.
SCORES
94 points – James Suckling
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
777 & 667
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 2000
BOTTLED
March 2020
BRIX AT HARVEST
23-25°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
601 Cases
CERTIFICATIONS
Made with 100% certified organic grapes
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The spring of 2018 was warmer than the average over the previous 10 years, and fairly dry. Bud break happened in mid-April and Bloom in early June, which can be a treacherous undertaking as the spring weather can mess up a healthy flowering. A giant hail storm descended on the Dundee Hills in early June, but luckily none of our Sokol Blosser Estate crop was ruined. The summer started like one giant furnace; July was a hot month and we had a lot of above 90 degree days. Just when it seemed like the hot weather would not stop, August came and more moderate weather with it. This helped slow the ripening down, and even cooler weather in September allowed us to let the grapes hang longer, resulting in riper fruit without additional sugar accumulation. The 2018 vintage is our coolest growing season since 2012, and we believe it will be our best vintage since then.
WINEMAKING
The grapes were carefully hand harvested on September 23rd. They were then sorted by hand on the crush pad to remove any flawed bunches and 100% de-stemmed directly into several 3-ton stainless steel fermenters. Fermentation took place with a combination of ambient yeast, cultivated house yeast, and commercial yeasts. Cap management was done via gentle punch downs up to 2 times per day. The wine from this block was drained and pressed off the skins immediately following primary fermentation with 20 days of skin contact time. This wine was aged in 100% French oak barrels for 18 months, with 25% new oak.
WINE PROFILE
Our 2018 Orchard Block Pinot Noir has notes of tobacco, pomegranate, raspberry and black cherry on the nose, as well as a subtle hint of chantrelle and nutmeg. On the palate, pomegranate and raspberry shine through with red cherries and a subtle dash of clove. A delicate Pinot Noir, the 2018 Orchard Block has lower tannins and brighter acidity.
PAIRINGS
This wine pairs with creamy dishes such as Cacio e Pepe and mushroom dishes like wild mushroom risotto or roasted cauliflower with truffles.
SCORES
93 points – James Suckling
92 points – Wine Spectator
