Oakwild Ranch Winery
2008 Toboni Vineyards Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Pinot Noir •Toboni Vineyard
California: Russian River Valley
Mission Briefing
The Oaks have it
A great example of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, this budget-friendly wine shows off the terroir that is typical of the region. The wine shows great aromatics, a smooth entry and delicious flavors.
The Oakwild Ranch Toboni Vineyard sits at the heart of the Russian River Valley, neighboring some of our favorite Pinot Noir sites in all of Sonoma County. There is a serene feel to the rolling vineyards that give the area its beauty. It is the climate of this region, though, that makes it such a perfect place for Pinot Noir. Hot, sunny days heat and energize the vines before later afternoon coastal fog rolls in to cool them. This places the ideal amount of stress on the vines - which makes for wonderful Pinot Noir.
This wine is just a little hot on opening, so be sure to decant for best results. Initial alcohol blows off and then flavors spring to life, making the wine a delicious and elegant treat for the senses.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Pink edges transition to a translucent darker garnet core. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Forest floor with redwood bark, fresh mushroom and dried leaves melds with dark fruit of black cherry, red plum and dried cranberry. |
| Taste: | Sweet and smoky all at once, this wine leads with black cherry, blackberry, cranberry and cherry cola with subtle braised meat, subtle herbs and a hint of black currant. |
| Finish: | Long and lingering with dark fruit flavors that yield to earthy and more herbal flavors. |
| Pairing: | This wine would be stunningly good with a Mu Shu pork. Turkey breast in a prune glaze would also be quite delicious. |
What the Winery Says
- 2008 Pinot Noir, Oakwild Ranch
- Earthy and spicy sage scents add to the delicate ripe cherry and plum aromas. Bright vibrant fresh cherry cola and cranberry flavors are enhanced by sweet oak and vanilla notes. Layers of flavor and creamy tannins create a long mid palate and a lingering, pleasant finish.
- ABV
- 15.1%
About the Winery
- Oakwild Ranch
- Mary and Joe Toboni are 4th generation San Franciscans whose roots can be traced back to San Francisco as early as the 1870’s and specifically to Sonoma County prior to the 1920’s. They have lived in San Francisco their entire lives where they have raised their five children and enjoyed an extended family in and around the area. Their Oakwild Ranch lies a stone’s throw from the intersection of Olivet Lane and River Road in the heart of the Russian River Valley.
- Development
- The development of the vineyard involved a state of the art well and pump system that provides our ranch with a capacity of 400 gallons of water per minutes. This sort of advanced system gives us several options when irrigating and fertilizing through irrigation, as well as a frost protection micro-frost system. We spent a lot of time and effort to first make sure that our new vineyard would have an adequate drainage system in the areas where drainage would be of paramount important. And after 6 years we feel our planning and infrastructure for drainage has really come through magnificently. We are also blessed with a nice modest sloping piece of land that drains naturally, which we of course had to rip and re-grade for an acceptable contour.
Additionally, it was very important for us to properly align our vineyard rows for proper expose to the climate and the natural elements. With a sloping vineyard and tight row spacing, your options need to also address tractor travel and not just exposure. We feel our alignment could not have been better planned given our terrain.
- Clones and Rootstock
- We had our soils tested by professional consultants and through their determination and recommendation we matched our clones with 101-14 rootstock. We then proceeded to have this 101-14 rootstock grafted to our selected clones as ‘green growers’ in a nursery setting for six months before planting. After interviewing the top pinot noir winemakers in the Russian river valley and discussing the various pros and cons of the varying clones and their merit, we chose to use four French clones, 3 Dijon clones and Pommard. The Dijon clones that we chose were 667, 777, and 115 and the fourth clone we chose was Pommard 5. In our first planting in 2000 we planted 7850 vines of the 667 clone, 6550 vines of the 777 clone, 4050 of the 115 clone, and 1000 vines of Pommard 5. In 2005 we planted another 4000 vines of the Pommard 5 to make 5000 vines of that clone. The additional planting of the Pommard 5 vines gives us more clonal equality which will be helpful in the clonal blending process. As of September 2006 we have 23450 total vines planted of the Pinot Noir variety. Oakwild Ranch is a 25 acre parcel with almost 19 acres of it now planted.