2015 Cuvée 23 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills AVA
This is the third time we have made an old vine Pinot Noir cuvée: the 23 indicates Westrey’s 23 vintage making wine in the valley. This cuvée was harvested on September 28th under sunny skies and after a wonderful cool night. Coming in at 22.9 Brix, with good acidity (TA 6.4 g/l) and a ph 3.29 it was a wonder in a ripe vintage to see the 39 year-old vines show their true colors. The clusters were completely destemmed into 1500 liter open-top fermeters where they underwent a 16-day indigenous fermentation and were racked directly into 6 barrels with 1/3 new French oak.  On the nose, it is coy at first: presenting earth, truffle, and notes of Marionberry as it hints at the depth it possesses. On the palate: big rich, seamless fruit that is weighty and mouth-filling.  Layer after layer of black currant, coffee, rose petal, high-notes of pomegranate, and low notes of limestone fleshed out by layers of Pinot fruit, simply a wonderfully complete wine. It has great richness and the structure to age for 15+ years.  One of the hallmarks of the own-rooted vines in these warm, dry vintages is that their incredibly deep roots give them full and complete canopies late in the season.  They are our climate-change warriors before they die.  So even as the last Pinot picked, the fruit was at moderate sugar, but beautifully ripe, with phenolic balance and full structure. This wine has old vine depth, finesse and power/structure. This six-barrel lot was bottled without fining or filtration in early September of 2017 after 23 months in barrel.
Finished wine pH: 3.51
TA: 5.80g/l
Alcohol: 13.4%
142 cases and 5 cases of magnums produced