Tasting Notes

With the 2014 vintage, we made a switch to the Russian River Valley. The fruit for the 2014 The Cairn Pinot Noir comes entirely from Catie’s Corner Vineyard. Once again, we vinified with 15% whole cluster providing a bit more mouthfeel and spiciness to the wine, along with monthly lees stirring. We used 40% new oak for barrel aging, and the wine is a blend of 20 year old vines comprised of two Wadenswil clones, 1A and 2A. This wine shows classic Russian River Valley characteristics with the cherry cola notes enveloping a spicy red fruit dominated finish.

Harvest Notes

2014 was the third year into a sustained drought, showing similar characteristics to 2013. The vines were treated to a warm winter and we were treated to an early bud break. With almost no rain at all through the growing season, we were lucky to get a bit of a cooling trend in August which allowed the fruit to hang a little longer and reach full maturity. We harvested through the night of September 3rd and delivered the fruit early in the morning on the 4th.