Black Kite Sierra Mar Pinot Noir 2015
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
There's a compelling mix of sweeter fruit and dry earth on the nose of this bottling, with strawberry compote and rusty rock aromas along with a vanilla-laced brioche. The palate loses the ripe fruit a bit, instead showing tighter and fresh flavors of black raspberry with anise, white pepper and sagebrush, proving quite sleek and restrained in style.
When started with the first vintage in 2003, they already loved great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Burgundy and California. Over the ensuing years they have learned that they are engaged in a journey, one that combines high aspirations with long term commitment, patience and fortitude. It is a process of striving for the best over a long period of time. The winery appreciate that many of the best wines in the world are produced by family-owned wineries that have been around for generations. Black Kite is dedicated to the journey, and aspire to making great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for many years.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.