The Vineyard

Only 12 rows of approximately 60 vines per row comprise this prized Pinot Noir block. The 1.1 acre of Pommard clone was planted in 1975 at 6’ x 10’ spacing on own-rooted plants. Elevation is about 300’; slope is east; soil is Jory clay loam. This block is part of the parcel the Blossers purchased from their neighbors, Ted and Verni Wirfs, local farmers who told Bill and Susan that this parcel was the “banana belt” of the area because their fruit always ripened earlier than that of neighboring farms. Sokol Blosser has found that to be true.

The Blend

At only about 2.2 tons per acre in 2001, this tiny block yielded a total of only 2.8 tons. After fermentation, pressing and over 17 months in barrel only seven barrels remained, four and a half of which were used for the final blend.

The Winemaking

The grapes were de-stemmed directly into small (one-ton) fermenters, preserving as many whole berries as possible. They were given two days of pre-fermentation maceration, then manually punched down gently three times per day during a seven day fermentation. Finally, the wine was given a very long (twenty-three day) post-fermentation maceration.

The long post-fermentation maceration is an extremely important component of our winemaking. As the newly fermented wine rests in contact with the skins it extracts color, complexity and tannins. The tannins initially are “short-chain” molecules: hard, green, bitter and aggressive – not what any winemaker wants. The wine tends to get more and more harsh and bitter for the first two to three weeks. If we were to remove the wine from the skins at that point we would be creating a wine with very coarse, harsh tannins which could take many years to (or may never) soften, or require heavy fining. However, if the wine is left for about three weeks, at a certain point the short-chain tannins polymerize (chemically bond) to form long-chain tannins, which are soft, supple and silky. Every fermenter is slightly different. In some the change occurs at nineteen days.  In others it may take twenty four days. But in each case it is done by taste and when the transformation has taken place it is time to press. Now the wine has gained tremendous complexity, more stable color, and a beautiful soft, silky texture that makes it accessible (and pleasurable) when young, yet it still has the tannin structure for long-term ageability.

After pressing, the wine went very quickly to barrels where it underwent a very long, slow malolactic fermentation in fine-grain French oak from five different Burgundian cooperages.

The Wine

Extraordinary richness, power, intensity, depth and concentration characterize the wine from this block. The tannins are smooth and polished, the texture silky and the finish is long and luscious.

123 cases produced