Our premiere release of the 2014 Azaya Pinot Noir has a gorgeous dark ruby color. The opening bouquet has wild strawberries, lavender, and blueberries with a dollop of crème frâíche.

The soil at our Azaya vineyard is more “agricultural” in nature, lending some flavors of cherry pit to the wine. The fruit is more in the blue/black tone with a faint earthiness. With 20 months of aging in French oak 500L puncheons (of which 15% were new,) the tannins are fairly firm with a light overlay of cedarwood from the balanced oak.

Vineyard Notes

Azaya is the Sanskrit word for sanctuary as well as the name of our vineyard. Our unique vineyard location in west Marin County’s Petaluma Gap offers us distinct climate and varied soil types that are conducive to cultivating our estate plantings.

The region’s microclimate guarantees that our vineyards are often shrouded in fog during the early morning hours and evenings, helping to ensure steady, gradual fruit maturation. While the day’s temperature is pleasant, we experience dramatic diurnal swings with nighttime temperatures dipping low.

Our site takes full advantage of this “wind tunnel” effect resulting in smaller vineyard yields, more moderate sugar levels, and grapes with optimum levels of acidity.