“Classic” and “perfect” are just two accolades being bestowed upon the 2012 Napa Valley growing season and harvest. Textbook conditions saw near-ideal spring bud break, steady flowering, even fruit set, and a lengthy stretch of warm days and cool and often foggy nights during the long summer months. Late and light rains held off until Napa Valley’s treasured wine grapes found optimal ripeness, bringing exceptional quality to the crush pad and into the cellar. Two of the vineyards utilized for this wine: Las Amigas Partners and Doucette had perfect yields of 3.1 and 2.9 tons per acre, respectively. These low yields contributed to great concentration of color, aroma and flavor.

Gentle and minimalist handling (hand sorting, gentle destemming, and manual punch downs) during the fermentation help to make this wine great. Pinot noir is a fickle variety that needs constant TLC in order to express true character. This wine was treated with kid gloves throughout harvest, aging and bottling. All French oak barrels were utilized to age this wine for 12 months prior to bottling.