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• http://www.snooth.com/wine/silver-pines-pinot-noir-2006/?t=reviews&#r=2692171

  "Extracted style in both color and body." http://www.snooth.com/wine/silver-pines-pinot-noir-2006/?t=reviews&#r=2692171Read full review »

Winemakers Notes

Located on a solo hill at 980 elevation in the middle of the wind tunnel created by the draw of Crane Canyon up from the Petaluma Gap, the two clonal blocks of a Swiss scion (Mariafeld) and a Pommard selection (UCD-4) are grown on the NW-facing slope. In years where mean air temperature is a little higher on the slopes of Sonoma Mountain, this protected yet moderating influence means that Silver Pines ripens its grapes fully and without haste something that California Pinot is generally not used to doing! The site and the owners, Norm and Carol Silverman, are a winemakers dream and consistently our read more...Tandem consumers delightTasting notes: deep, dark color foretells of the wines strength. Aromas: this is a young, brooding wine with dark fruits, beeswax and hints of Ribena. On the mouth the youthful presentation continues with a chewy, dense, thick and powerful entry that shows off the tannins of the vintage big but broad and spreading, rather than attacking. This wine takes time to open up to black cherry and dark plum with a tartness of Acerola cherry on the late palate. This is a wine to taste through several years to watch its evolution.Technical Data:Harvest: The challenges of 2006 were not seen so severely at Silver Pines. The warm spell in the early part of harvest was embraced by the Pommard block of Pinot, giving us an early opening harvest window. The open cluster architecture of the Mariafeld clone kept Botrytis at bay as this clone hung through 3 rain events! Tough going, but the vineyard stepped up to the task.Fermentation: Both lots were done with wild fermentation, both primary and secondary. Pressing was conducted using a JLB basket press about 2 Brix before dryness, with both ferments finishing within 6 weeks of pressing off. All wines went to barrel without racking or clarification of any kind.Barrel Aging: As with the previous two years, we went light on the oak, with about 1/3 new French. Total time in barrel was 11 month in additional once and twice used barriques.Final bottling technical information of 851 cases of this third bottling of Silver Pines Pinot noir: pH: 3.64 TA: 6.4 g/L 14.9% alcohol Residual sugar: 0.08% (very, very dry) Appellation: Sonoma Mountain    (hide)

What to Expect

California has long struggled with Pinot Noir. Finding the right vineyards for this most fickle of grape, one that enjoys a cool growing season yet needs warmth close to harvest to fully ripen, has proven a challenge in such a sunny state. Cooler areas eventually became identified; the Santa Rita Hills, Russian River Valley and Mendocino's Anderson valley are all prime spots for Pinot Noir in California. Unlike the lighter colored and sometimes delicate Pinots of Burgundy, California produces many rich, deep Pinots full of slightly chewy dark berry and cherry fruits with hints of cola, Asian spices and forest floor frequently adding complexity.

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