2008 PINOT NOIR - RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY | STARR RIDGE DIJON CLONES

This 24 acre property has an easterly orientation and is located in the cool, breezy hills just to the east of the Russian River and southwest of the town of Windsor. After careful research, four clones of Pinot Noir were selected, Pommard clone 4, Dijon clone 114, Dijon clone 115 and Dijon clone 777. Due to the high density of planting at the vineyard, low vigor rootstocks that are compatible to the soil profile were selected.

The 2008 growing season was a roller coaster year. It began with dry warm weather that started vines growing early. Then there were freezing temperatures during the spring (down to 23 degrees F. in some areas of Sonoma County) causing some damage due to frost, followed by excessive heat and high wind during bloom. Thereafter we had slightly above average temperatures, followed by slightly below average temperatures all summer long. From a winemaking perspective, the dry growing season produced the benefit of inducing "moderate stress" on the vines, which limited growth of the canopy and focused the vines' energy on the grapes. The smaller berries with the slightly lighter crop combined to produce beautiful concentrated fruit flavors.

298 cases