2006 PINOT NOIR - RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY / HALLBERG VINEYARD

The 2006 growing season saw a cool spring followed by a cool summer punctuated with a heat wave in July, and a relatively late harvest. These grapes were picked at 24.0 degrees brix during the cool night in late September. The fruit was then hand sorted, de-stemmed and moved to fermenters uncrushed for a 5-day cold soak, then fermented in small stainless steel tanks with regular punch-downs. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and matured in a combination of new and 1-year-old French oak barrels for over 13 months before bottling.

A wine of stunning depth and concentration, the 2006 Hallberg Pinot Noir is simultaneously opulent and elegant, opening with a deep nose of black cherries and expanding in the mouth to show pretty spice and blueberry highlights braced with firm tannins and ample acidity through the long, supple finish. This boldly-flavored wine is built to last and pairs beautifully with rack of lamb with fresh rosemary.

The 100-acre Hallberg Vineyard is named for previous owners Don and Marcia Hallberg and today owned by a small group of investors headed by Brice Jones, formerly of Sonoma Cutrer. The vineyard is meticulously farmed by Kirk Lokka, also a veteran of Sonoma Cutrer, and the commitment to quality of the current owners coupled with the site’s exceptional soils give this property boundless potential.