Morgan Twelve Clone 2006
Winemaker's Notes:
Tasting Notes: Leather, toast, minerals and vanilla, with cherry-berry, rose petal, and some spicy/earthy notes, in a balanced and integrated style. Medium bodied and broadly structured on the palate. The Santa Lucia Highlands typically produces wines of large-scale ripe fruit and a structured elegance. This cool vintage and the Morgan winemaking team created a wine with finely detailed fruit and a refined, high-toned style. Winemaking Notes: Grapes are hand-sorted in the vineyards and at the winery and are completely de-stemmed. Whole-berry fermentations are inoculated with RC212, D254, and Assmanshausen yeasts, and some native yeast fermentations. Small, open top fermenters with manual punch downs are utilized for optimum extraction while maintaining an elegant structure. The primary fermentation finishes in 10-12 days. The wine is transferred to a combination of medium and medium+ toast Burgundy barrels, of which 40% are new, for malo-lactic fermentation and 11 months of aging. The wine was bottled, unfined, in August 2006. Vineyard Notes: The cool The Morgan 2005 Twelve Clones Pinot Noir is produced from top quality Santa Lucia Highlands Vineyards. Morgan's organically farmed Double L Vineyard is 40% of the 2006 blend, and contributes complexity with 12 different clonal selections of Pinot Noir. The cool Monterey climate and strong Salinas Valley winds combine to form a very long growing season, creating intense, ripe flavors with balancing acidity. Vintage Notes: The 2006 vintage started late and ran about a month later than normal, due to a cold, wet spring that delayed the fruit set. The summer weather was typical for the region. The Pinot Noir harvest eventually finished in late October, with average crop loads showing intensely flavored fruit that retained much of its natural acidity. Technical Notes: Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands Alcohol : 14.2% pH : 3.58 TA: 5.7 g/L Aging: 11 months Oak: 40% new French Barrels Release: Fall 2007 Return to Morgan wine list

Morgan Winery is family owned and operated since 1982 and is committed to making refined wines from the finest Monterey and Santa Lucia Highlands Vineyards. Morgan Winery's Double L Vineyard is currently the only certified organically farmed vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
Member Reviews for Morgan Twelve Clone
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Morgan Winery in Salinas is one of my favorite producers of Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Owner Dan Lee produces wines both from his own Double L Vineyard, at the cooler northern end of the AVA, and from other vineyards in the appellation. As its name suggests, this wine is a blend of 12 clones of Pinot Noir, which contribute complexity. Forty percent of the grapes come from Double L, with the balance sources from elsewhere in the AVA. The wine spent 11 months in French oak barrels, 40 percent of them new. The result is a Pinot that’s a perfect combination of the appellation and the Morgan Winery style. It’s ripe and intense, yet balanced and elegant. The wine displays bright raspberry and strawberry flavors, some spicy notes and firm acidity. The long finish is a bit dry at this point, but some more time in the bottle or the right food (think grilled ahi, duck confit or roast chicken) should smooth out any rough spots. And considering the high price of many Santa Lucia Highlands Pinots, this wine looks like a bargain at $31.
Dietary Information: Organic
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