1997 Pinot Noir - Hirsch Vineyard
Tasting Notes
The Hirsch Vineyard is well known to Pinot aficionados. 1997 presented a challenging year for both the CMR vineyard and the vines of our closest viticultural neighbor, David Hirsch. Late, light sequential rains before harvest and a mild warm spell following a generally cool Autumn gave both bright fruity flavors as well as a potential for Botrytis. The Pommard clone yielded soft cherry and cola notes on the nose and a warm, sweet Pinot mouth with a touch of smoke/roast meats. The MEV clone produced tiny, thick-skinned berries that, when picked almost into October, produced dark fruit aromas and full, ripe tannins without the hardness that often comes with such small, loose clusters. The resulting wine is both soft and full, with the trademark Hirsch backbone that indicates this wine will last well into the next century. Still, careful cold-soak and hand-punch-down of our small open-topped fermentors aided in creating a supple texture that makes the wine pleasurable upon release. Enjoy!
Facts
- Clones: Primarily Mt. Eden Vineyard (MEV); some Pommard selection. Clones picked & aged in 2 separate lots.
- Yeast/ML: 100% native malolactic, aged non-settled (on light lees) in barrel for 11 months
- Cooperage: 90% new oak: primarily Remond cooper, forests of medium + toasted Allier & Bertranges wood; also Francais Tronçais forest with high toast & toasted heads and Marsannay tight-grain Centre France blend w/house toast
- Harvest: Pommard picked 9/16 & 9/20/97; MEV picked 9/27, harvested at an average of 25° Brix with high acid for even our cool area (almost 10 g/L ave.!!) and low pH (3.38 ave.)
- Yield (avg. of both clones): 2.4 tons/acre
- Yeast: Native, following 3-5 days cold soak at 38° F.
- Vineyard location: Less than 1 mile N of CMR as the crow flies, across the steep canyon of the South Fork of the Gualala River.
- Vineyard terroir: Exposed, rocky ridge-top clay-loam soils of ancient marine sediment. Exposure is generally an ideal NE-SW orientation.
- Plantings: MEV planted 1980 to AxR rootstock to vertical shoot positioning (VSP). Pommard planted 1992 on 3309 rootstock to VSP.
Final bottling technical information
- pH: 3.50
- TA: 5.8 g/L
- 14.2% alcohol
- Residual sugar: 0.05% (incredibly bone dry)
Bottled unfined & unfiltered in August 1998; 271 cases produced.