DeLoach Green Valley Pinot Noir 2008
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This wine is a blend from several vineyards and Pinot noir clones, each of which contributes something unique to the finished wine. The late-ripening Ferguson Vineyard lends dark, intense fruit and tannins while the Giberti Vineyard ripens earlier in a slightly warmer area of the valley. The backbone of the blend is from the Swicegood Vineyard where the soils are reminiscent of those in Burgundy: rich in clay and calcareous. Grapes are destemmed and go through native fermentation in open-top vats with hand punchdowns. The Giberti and Ferguson lots were blended after pressing, and were aged separately from the Swicegood lots until just before bottling.
Enticingly aromatic, with notes of raspberries, black cherries, rhubarb, rose petals and a hint of cola, this wine pairs well with Alaskan salmon or other rich fish. Try it with a seared duck breast and a blackcurrant glaze!
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Wine Spectator
Tightly wound, firm and intense, with a minerally edge to the flinty berry flavors that are delicate and spicy, ending with a rich berry medley. Drink now through 2016. 1,467 cases made.
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DeLoach Vineyards has been a pioneering producer of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley since 1975. DeLoach seeks to produce exceptional wines that spotlight the singular personality of the Russian River Valley, with its rare and bountiful convergence of the sea, the soil and the stars. The Boisset family of Burgundy has stewarded winegrowing and winemaking at DeLoach since 2003, bringing the techniques and approaches of Burgundy to winemaking in the Russian River Valley, which they believed to be California’s most expressive terroir for cultivating Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Under Boisset, DeLoach has grown its small-lot vineyard designate wine program, become a certified organic and Biodynamic estate vineyard, and implemented traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques such as open-top wood fermentors, native yeast fermentations, and hand punch-downs. Wine & Spirits magazine has named DeLoach Vineyards a Top 100 Winery twelve times.
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.”
Situated on the foggier and colder western edge of the Russian River Valley, almost abutting the Sonoma Coast appellation, Green Valley is one of California’s most reputable Chardonnay and Pinot noir producing regions. It is also a wonderful source of sparkling wines made from these varieties.
Goldridge soils abound throughout the Green Valley appellation. This fine, dark, sandy loam and fractured sandstone is derived from the remains of ancient inland seabeds dating back three to five million years. It is valuable for high quality grape growing because of its excellent drainage and low fertility.