David Noyes Wines
2009 Freestone Vineyard Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir •Freestone Vineyard
California: Russian River Valley
Mission Briefing
Pinot Hero
Today’s Elite Operative Saturday wine is a premium wine - at a very budget-friendly price.
David Noyes has become one of our favorite winemakers. David was one of the first winemakers that Agent Red ever met and it was David that taught Agent Red so much about Russian River Pinot - so many years ago.
Today’s 2009 David Noyes Freestone Pinot Noir is a juicy, delicious, complex Pinot Noir that we absolutely love. We offer it to you, today with our heartiest recommendation. If you love great Russian River Pinot, you will not be disappointed.
A word on the vineyard: The Freestone vineyard, farmed by the Duttons, lies just off the Bohemian Highway at the very border of the Russian River, Green Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. Significant marine influence insures slow growth and late ripening - leading to some of the finest Pinot in the entire appellation.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Very dark and very pretty with deepest crimson hues through an even darker heart. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Very fresh on the nose with live aromas of pomegranate, Bing cherry juice, red licorice, raspberry and a very fine aroma of subtle fresh mint leaf. |
| Taste: | Rich and dark, with concentrated red and black fruit of black cherry, blueberry, black currant and that meld with black tea leaf, subtle eucalyptus, subtle spice and flinty minerals. |
| Finish: | Ultra long with dark fruit flavors that very gradually give way to earth, herbs, spice and lovely mineral |
| Pairing: | Roast duck in a balsamic cherry marinade. |
What the Winery Says
DAVID NOYES WINES Freestone Hill Pinot Noir 2009
~ winemaking offers a conversation with the natural world; wine speaks to seasons past, the earth, its bounty and its pleasures~
- Vintage
- 2009
- Appellation
- Russian River
- Vineyard
- Freestone Hill Vineyard
- Varietal
- 100% Pinot Noir
- Alcohol
- 13.9%
- pH
- 3.70
- Aging
- 40% new French oak, from coopers Mercurey and Remond.
- Bottled
- May, 2011, 18 months in barrel
- Pairing
- Still young, at as I write this in November 2012, I’d pair this concentrated flavorful wine with nut-crusted salmon, Southern fried chicken, or something middle eastern… pomegranates, honey and almonds perhaps.
- Production
- 120 Cases
- Winemaker’s Notes
- “Rich and inviting, the 2009 Freestone Hill opens with aromas of licorice, ripe red fruits, (raspberry and current), caramel and toasted nuts. The palate likewise explodes with flavor, juicy red fruits, raspberry preserve, but also firm acidity and a decided mineral streak that speaks of both the ocean and coastal mint.”
The Dutton’s ‘Freestone Hill’ vineyard is located just west of Freestone and about a mile south of the old logging town of Occidental. The vineyard benefits, (or suffers, depending upon one’s perspective), from cool, often wet spring weather that serves to slow shoot growth and impede set. This climate virtually insures tiny berries on small clusters, (low yields!). By late summer however the afternoons bake with the August sun that brings us Sonoma’ns out to the coast…The small berries ripen quickly and much care must be taken to harvest before they simply dry on the vine! When all goes well, as it did in 2009, the result is a concentrated, distinctive wine that combines the racy minerality of coastal fruit with the decadence of a sun-ripened blackberry picked on a lazy summer’s day.
~An intersection of soil, season, time and care The moment lingers~
About the Winery
I founded DAVID NOYES WINES to fulfill my life-long dream to provide wines that connect us to the natural world, to winemaking traditions, and that provide tangible expressions of the mysteries of time, place and transformative experience. More specifically, (and less poetically), my wines provide unique expressions of pinot noir and other varietals from selected Sonoma County vineyards. My winemaking techniques are selected to minimize handling and maximize the individuality, flavor and balance of each lot.
My winemaking career began in the cellar at Ridge Vineyards in 1970, between then and now I’ve worked in Monterey, Mendocino, Livermore, France and Sonoma Valley. In 1989 I began work with the Kunde family to create Kunde Estate Winery; I started my own label in 2001, and in 2006 left Kunde to devote myself entirely to DAVID NOYES WINES.
DAVID NOYES WINES consists of myself, my wife Grace, and our generous family and friends. We produce small lots of pinot noir, zinfandel, chardonnay and tocai friulano from selected Sonoma County vineyards located in the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Sonoma Valleys. These wines express the character of the vineyard, vintage, and my own esthetic judgment, informed through over 30 years of experience in the creation of noteworthy, well-regarded, premium wines; they offer distinct personality, balance and an excellent complement to fine cuisine.
Winemaking Style
My wines are meant to accompany food; neither wine nor food need overpower the palate to provide an overwhelming experience! The aim is for a ‘rich, balanced style’, full-flavored wines that express the best of our California fruit, yet do not overwhelm with alcohol, extract or oak. I find such wines offer more individual expression, better pairings with food and more personality.
Grace Noyes, W.O.W.
As the Wife of Winemaker (W.O.W.), I am privileged to meet great folks, drink awesome wines, and eat wonderful food, in short, to have fun with my clever winemaker husband and our dynamic friends and family. Dave makes acclaimed wines and I, as WOW, provide humor and whimsy to keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. Over 96.5% I know about the enjoyment, making and marketing of wine I learned after meeting Dave in 1995.
I practice chiropractic in the Sonoma Valley, having graduated from Palmer College on Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1978. Donna Nassar, D.C. was my name before I married Dave in 1997. Besides my WOW and DC hats, I often don other hats including; wedding minister, artist and writer.