Named for its location next to the Dayton watershed, this 4.25 acre block is all Pommard clone planted on its own roots in 1977 at 6'x 10' spacing. At 550’ elevation this is the highest Pinot Noir block of the Sokol Blosser vineyards. The section slopes east and south and is comprised of Jory soil, the distinctive red clay loam of the Dundee Hills.
In classic Oregon fashion, the weather during the 2002 harvest was a little bit of everything. A beautiful summer growing season led right up to the beginning of our harvest on September 14. We picked a small amount of Pinot Noir that day, then the following day it turned cool and overcast followed by a day of heavy rain. By the time it dried out enough to get going again, a week had gone by. Then the weather turned quite hot and we were able to harvest for a week before the rains kicked in again. We endured a full week of cold temperatures, heavy rains and even some thunder and lightning, before it again turned dry and sunny and we had two nice weeks to finish up the harvest under ideal conditions. Given the wildly changeable weather we experienced during the harvest, it is truly remarkable that the wines of the 2002 vintage are so wonderful.
The grapes were de-stemmed directly into small (one-ton and three-ton) open-top 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 wines were given a very long (twenty-two day) post-fermentation maceration.
After pressing, the wine went very quickly to barrels where it underwent a very long, slow malolactic fermentation. The barrels, 65% of which were new, were all fine-grain French oak from a number of different Burgundian cooperages.
The wine from this block usually has the most firm, focused structure and backbone of the three single-block designate wines we produce. Elegant and restrained when young, it has a beautiful texture and the kind of “grip” which indicates exceptional long-term aging potential. Although the 2002 is light in color, don’t be fooled – this is not a wimpy wine. Medium-bodied, with flavors and aromas of sweet berries and cola evolving into the distinctive Sokol Blosser earth and truffle, this wine is truly expressive of Watershed Block structure, complexity and elegance.