WINE CLUB ONLY!
TASTING NOTES: Opens with floral notes of roses and strawberry, then blossom into five spice and cola. The flavors of strawberry and raspberry are enhanced by notes of orange peel, pomegranate and mint. Tangy red licorice comes through on the long finish. Moderate tannins allow the wine to be enjoyed in its youth; the structure and balance of the wine will provide years of pleasure as it ages. VINEYARD SOURCES: The grapes were harvested in small blocks by clone, on the different dates as indicated below, to optimize the ripeness and complexity available from each block of fruit. The bulk of this wine came from the Wiley Vineyard. Located about a mile west of the winery on a ridge above the valley floor, this is among the most westerly producing vineyard in the Valley. Because of its location it receives the benefit of the cooling afternoon breezes and fog that creep up the Navarro River from the ocean nearly every afternoon. These conditions provide a long growing season that allows the grapes to develop their full flavor potential without getting overly ripe. It is also one of the oldest Pinot Noir vineyards in Anderson Valley as part of it was planted in 1978. There are numerous clones in this vineyard but we chose the Pommard and another old block of vines which was established from cuttings from the David Bruce vineyard. David Bruce used cuttings to establish his vineyard from the Mt. Eden vineyard, which in turn was allegedly sourced from the famous Romanee-Conti Estate in Burgundy. These two choices are from the first vines in the vineyard and thus had much greater maturity than the other clones which were planted mostly in the 1990's. A fascinating aspect of the Wiley vineyard is that the older vines growing in this slightly cooler location reach flavor maturity at a later date and at a lower sugar level than any other Pinot Noir vineyard I have worked with in the valley. WINEMAKER NOTES: The 2004 wines were aged in 70% new French oak barrels until the following summer. At that time, the wines were racked from the barrels, blended and returned to the barrels to finish aging - a total of 19 months in oak. The older vines from the Wiley vineyard produce a delicate, floral wine. In 2004, the Wiley vineyard wine benefited from a modest addition of the more robust Klindt vineyard wine which filled out the mid palate without affecting the elgance that the Delicace' is known for. 262 Cases Produced Harvested September 27 to 29, and October 15 to 17, 2004. pH: 3.65 TA: .61 100% Pinot Noir
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