Wine Enthusiast -Sonoma, CA-"This red offers delicious value, sourcing from sites within the Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros AVAs. Coolness and restraint are the guides, the wine light in color and texture, with just touches of spice, strawberry and tea. It finishes juicy, with a citrus flair."
TASTING NOTES
Smoke Tree Pinot Noir offers aromas of black cherry, Santa Rosa plum and licorice with a hint of oak. The palate echoes with continued flavors of bing cherry, plum and cocoa. The finish is long and fresh with supple tannins and lingering minerality.
VINIFICATION
The grapes were fermented in open top fermenters with 10% of the lots retaining whole clusters. Fermentation of the 2016 vintage was entirely native, long and cool. Punchdowns by hand allow for balanced extraction and retention of delicate aromas. The wine ages for ten months in French oak barrels, 15% new.
VINEYARDS
Select cool climate vineyards across Sonoma County provide the ideal range of fruit profiles for Smoke Tree Pinot Noir. Smoke Tree’s winemaker believes complexity on the palate starts in the vineyards; we look for mature vines (an average of 20 years in age) from up to five different clones and ten vineyard partners. We select fruit with dark fruit characteristics, bold flavors and substance. The majority of the fruit for the 2016 vintage came from the cool, windy terrain of the Petaluma Gap, the windswept vineyards of Carneros and rolling hills of Russian River Valley. Smaller percentages from Sonoma Coast add robust elegance to the final blend.
