Decisions, decisions... putting together a wine plan can seem a daunting proposition. There are so many choices that determine how the berry will play out in the bottle. To help demystify the process, Crushpad's Pinot Noir winemaker, Chris Nelson, walked us through the 30 or so steps that go into making a red wine. As Chris detailed the wine plan, we sipped and sampled two Pinots sourced from Amber Ridge Vineyards in Windsor. Vineyard owner, Frank Darrien, first harvested from this property in 2003 and soon after, wines made from Amber Ridge fruit were given hefty scores by Parker and Spectator.
The 2005 Siduri, offered slate and mineral notes on the nose with slight undertones of fig and clove. An hour or so of after decanting, wild strawberries sauntered into the picture as well. I have tasted several wonderful Pinots from this winemaking team, but, I was a little disappointed with this offering. When tasted, the flavors were a little disjointed with sturdy acidity and alcoholic heat persisting throughout the entire palate. Not as subtle as I had hoped for. More gravel throated Tom Waits...less introspective Django. After a 3-day cold soak, Dianna and Adam Lee inoculated clones 115, 667 and 777 with yeast strains RC-212 and L2056. The wine was aged 10 months in 66% new French oak.
The '06 Crushpad was pulled from a barrel earlier in the afternoon and awaits bottling in late July. Cherry and blackberry carried the nose on this whole berry fermented 667 clone. After a 4-day cold soak, the juice was inoculated with the BGY strain. A combination of punchdowns and pumpovers were utilized to extract color and flavor compounds from the grape skins. While this wine still needs more time, the fruit and oak elements are headed in the right direction.
After the first two wines, everyone broke into smaller groups headed by Tom, Kathy and Chris where they were to hash out the specific details of each wine plan. Alex and Dave then poured the second set of wines, an '04 Roessler from Mendocino County's Alder Springs Vineyard and a 2005 Loring with fruit sourced from the Brosseau Vineyard in the Chalone AVA. The Roessler featured anise, orange peel and a touch of cedar in the nose. In the front of the palate, the wine was soft, almost fleshy in character. This was followed by a rush of crisp tannins that carried throughout a long finish. Alder Springs is located at the northern end Mendocino County in the town of Laytonville. The 2004 was given a 5-day cold soak in stainless steel. The juice was then allowed to come up to a temperature where the native yeast population initiated the fermentation. After the 4th day, cultured yeast was added to ensure that the ferment would continue until all the sugars were consumed. The winemaking team of Wells Gutherie and Roger Roessler attempted to have malolactic conversion take place naturally. However, they found it necessary to inoculate as the conversion of malic acid into lactic was having difficulty going through. The 2004 was aged in 40% new French oak for 11 months. Prior to bottling, the wine was lightly filtered to improve clarity.
Brian Loring's 2005 began with a slight toast on the nose with soft strawberry underpinnings. When tasted, it started off round on the palate with a gentle flavor of violets...nice...but then it simply disappeared. Gone. The Brosseau is a blend of 113, 114, 115 and the Mount Eden clones. The grapes were crushed and destemmed before undergoing a 7-day cold maceration period. Because of the ripeness level of the fruit, Loring added tartaric acid and did a water addition prior to fermentation to adjust the pH and lower the brix level. After the fruit was inoculated with the Assmanshausan yeast strain, the fermentation was punched down only one time per day during. The '05 was aged in 50% new French oak for 10 months.
