Tasting Notes
A beautiful garnet hue welcomes you as a soft welcoming floral bouquet fills your senses. The nose is wonderfully integrated; deep and rich, dark berry spice, fresh tobacco and a hint of sweet oak. On the palate is a nice firm entry, dark black cherry, boysenberry, cassis and minerally rich clay. It’s silky and juicy with fine grained tannins, such a lovely texture that leads to a lively flavorful finish.
Vineyard Notes
Tucked away in a magical valley is a unique plateau at 1100’ elevation, on the north flank of Sonoma Mountain. Jim Scopa and Anne Kenner have called this bucolic spot (a former nudist colony) their home since 2004. The calming, peaceful energy is palpable and beckons, where one feels embraced by Sonoma Mountain. Gus (short for Argos) and his companion Cosmo are a couple of the luckiest dogs around. They reign over this beautiful property; another Talisman vineyard named after a wonderful dog. The combination of high elevation and well-drained Goulding loamy soil make this a great location for Pinot Noir, where fog and cool air flowing from the chilly Pacific through the Petaluma Gap seep into the upper reaches of Sonoma Mountain. Grapes on this site ripen very slowly, providing perfect conditions for complete and complex flavor development.
Production Notes
We picked the grapes in Gus’s Vineyard on September 24th. The grapes were sorted and destemmed, then quietly rested until a feral fermentation took off about a week after harvest with about 25% as a whole cluster component. The fermentation, along with frequent punch-downs, went to completion a week later, then the fermenter was sealed up for an extended maceration. We then pressed and barreled, using barrels from five different coopers to help add layers of complexity; from all five of our favorite coopers to help create complexity: Marcel Cadet, Remond, François Frères, Dargaud et Jaegle, and Rousseau. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel. The wine remained unracked until just before blending and bottling.
Other Notes
7 barrels / 174 cases made
