Meridian Pinot Noir 2004

good value pinot..earthy

July 2007

This soft, supple, velvety-textured wine has flavors of black cherry, sweet vanilla, and pepper. With its deep notes of ripe, summer plums and spicy oak finish, it's highly enjoyable with smoked chicken, grilled lamb, pork, cheeses, pastas or turkey. Pinot Noir from our Riverbench Vineyard in Santa Barbara County makes up two-thirds of this wine. The remaining third is evenly split between our White Hills Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, and the Paragon Vineyard in the Edna Valley. With their cool coastal climates and low yielding, restrictive soils, our Santa Barbara County vineyards read more...produce distinctive Pinot Noirs with bold, concentrated flavors emphasizing fruit and spice. The Paragon Vineyard brings a velvety texture to the wine, as well as deep notes of ripe summer plums. As soon as we got the fruit to the winery, we destemmed the grapes and put them directly into our open-top fermentors for a five-day cold soak. Once fermentation began, the cap was gently submerged three times a day, to distribute the solids and create fuller flavors in the wine. It then went to barrels for eight months of aging. For Pinot Noir, I choose small French oak barrels from a variety of forests - primarily Bourgogne, Center of France and Never. These barrels have a tight grain, and impart only a touch of nutty flavor. The medium toast level I request gently suggests a light toasty component in the finished wine.    (hide)