2013 Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir
Estate Grown & Bottled
Wine Specs
Vintage
2013
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Russian River Valley
Vineyard Designation
Olivet Lane Vineyard
Harvest Date
September 9, 2013
Acid
5.40 g/L
pH
3.59
Bottling Date
February 25, 2015
Alcohol %
14.3
Wine Spectator
89
Wine Specs
Vintage
2013
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Russian River Valley
Vineyard Designation
Olivet Lane Vineyard
Harvest Date
September 9, 2013
Acid
5.40 g/L
pH
3.59
Bottling Date
February 25, 2015
Alcohol %
14.3
Wine Spectator
89
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Our 2013 Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir exhibits the exceptional delicacy and elegance conferred by this special vineyard. Its intricate aroma is distinguished by candied cherry, spiced with vanilla, allspice and cardamom, and is perfumed with rose petal and heady incense. Complex and deeply layered flavors offer a succession of macerated strawberries, pomegranate, cola, praline, caramel, roasted coffee and chocolate. The seamless mouth feel is plush and silky across the palate, finishing with a sumptuous creaminess. A superb match for this velvety wine would be a rack of veal roasted to pink perfection. While drinking expansively in the present, we are enthralled by the aging potential of this particular vintage. This is a wine that promises to develop additional complexity through five to eight years of cellaring.
Awards
92-93 points - Pinot File, April 2015. 5 stars - Restaurant Wine, Ronn Wiegand, August 2015. Gold Medal - San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition 2016
Vineyard Notes
In 1973, the Pellegrini family purchased a 70-acre apple and plum orchard on West Olivet Road in Santa Rosa. This exceptional Russian River Valley property was converted to vineyard in 1975, and has been faithfully tended by Robert Pellegrini for over 40 years. Named for the mature olive trees lining the entrance, the Olivet Lane Vineyard features heritage plantings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which are valued as the source for some of the appellation’s most acclaimed wines. Approximately two-thirds of the vineyard’s 58 planted acres are dedicated to the Wente selection of Chardonnay, with the remaining acreage planted to the Martini selection of Pinot Noir, a clone now considered as an “heirloom” clone.
The Olivet Lane Vineyard is situated in the heart of the Russian River Valley’s low-lying Laguna de Santa Rosa Plain region, distinguished by the maritime fog influence sweeping up from the Pacific through the Petaluma Gap to the South. The cool climate extends the growing season, creating the opportunity for the grapes to ripen slowly and reach their full flavor potential while retaining their natural acidity, producing wines that are elegant and age-worthy.
Unmistakable Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir characteristics are typified by vivid cherry aromas, inherent delicate mouthfeel and silky texture.
Winemaker Notes
Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir is carefully tended by hand from vineyard to bottle using artisanal methods and obsessive attention to detail to preserve the exceptional fruit and achieve maximum textural complexity. Harvested in the cool of the early morning fog, our grapes are carried down the lane to the winery for hand-selecting and destemming. The berries are tipped gently to small open–top fermenters, where they typically reside for about 14 days. The onset of fermentation is delayed by chilling to allow 5 day period of cold-soak prior to fermentation to allow optimal extraction of color and flavor from the skins. During fermentation, the must is punched down several times daily to achieve gentle extraction. At the end of fermentation, the wine from each tank is maintained as a discrete lot, drained directly to barrels by gravity. Barrel aging takes place over 16 months, with a single racking of each individual barrel off primary lees in the spring. Our wine is handled minimally without pumping to preserve the delicacy and complexity of its texture.