2001 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir
Tasting Notes
This wine immediately commands your attention with its beautiful garnet hue. The youthful nose is a bit "tight" at first yielding its complex mélange of dark fruit, spice, bacon fat, and subtle herbal notes forthright after a bit of air. The palate displays firm acidity, yet moderate tannins, giving the overall impression of a more delicate and "classically" structured Pinot Noir than its predecessor. This wine is sourced from four different clonal blocks and is notable, once more, for its balance - where no one component dominates. We had more fruit, and thus wine, to work with this year, which allowed us to do a very rigorous barrel selection for what was ultimately included in this final blend. Enjoyable upon release, especially with food, this wine should provide its best drinking over the next two years. We are excited to see several similarities between our first two vintages of this Pinot Noir, even though the growing seasons were so different. The sign of true terroir!
Vineyards
Keefer Ranch is located in the Green Valley appellation, which has long been considered to have some of the coolest weather in Sonoma County. Burgundian varieties thrive here, typically yielding wines with delicacy and noteworthy acidity
- Clones: Pommard, 2A, 777, 115
- Harvest: Early to late September depending upon clonal block and maturity gradients with each block.
Winemaking
All fruit was hand sorted and fully destemmed with no crushing. Pre-fermentation "cold soak" ranged from 3-7 days depending on the lot. Punchdowns were done by hand with a frequency depending on the tannin structure of the given clone and the dynamics of the fermentation (usually 2x/day). Peak fermentation temperatures were between 85-90 F. Skin contact, like "cold soak", was variable, with a range of 14-18 days and all ferments being gently basket pressed and put to barrel on full fermentation lees for ML. Racking was minimal with only one assemblage being done in the spring to allow the blend to "marry" in barrel for a few months before bottling.
- Yeast/ML: Full native yeast and malolactic fermentations were once again the norm.
- Cooperage: Barrel aged 9 months in 40% new French oak from predominantly the Francois Freres, Remond, Latour, and Seguin-Moreau cooperages.
Final bottling technical information
- pH: 3.57
- Total Acidity: 0.64 g/100 ml
- 13.9% alcohol
- Residual Sugar: 0.05 g/100ml
Bottled unfined and unfiltered in late June 2002; 350 cases produced.