About The Wine
After a decade of winemaking, our own estate vineyard produced its first harvestable crop of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With a vineyard of our own, we’ve been able to use the techniques and wisdom passed on to us by local wine-growers, collaborators, and wine legends to cultivate perfectly specific Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for our own winemaking. Pali Vineyard spans 50 acres in Gypsy Canyon of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation in Santa Barbara County. The majority of the vineyard, about 40 acres, is planted to Pinot Noir where the vineyard’s naturally higher elevations, cool, ocean inspired climates and sandy soils produce elegant Pinot Noir grapes. On Pali Vineyard, different clones are planted and organized in different blocks, including clones 23, 2A, 777, 828 and Pommard. Each clone is hand-harvested separately and fermented and aged individually before assessed and ultimately blended together to create this perfectly balanced estate grown Pinot Noir. The wine is barrel-aged in 50% new French oak and 50% neutral French oak barrels for 540 days before being bottled. All of our vineyard designated wines express the nuanced characteristics discovered on remarkably unique and excellent vineyards.
The AVA
With a total area of 30,720 acres, the Sta. Rita Hills AVA is home to over 59 vineyards, totaling 2,700 hundred acres planted to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and 18 other cool climate wine grape varieties. The combination of a purely East/West maritime throat, poor marine-based soils, elevated calcium in the soil and the Pacific’s cooling influence through fog, wind and moderating summer heat combine to form one of the world’s best cool-climate viticulture areas for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Winemaker Notes
Rich blackberry-jam and black plum aromas are enhanced by baking spice on the concentrated nose of this bottling. The palate offers black raspberry jam flavors along with cardamom cream and clove, proving tangy and spicy.
Accolades
91 Points, Wine Enthusiast