Estate Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

Description :

This is 100% Melville fruit from Melville's Sta. Rita Hills estate and is a collection of seventeen Pinot Noir clones. 40% of the fruit was fermented as whole-clusters with 60% gently de-stemmed in small (1.5 ton) open top fermenters. Total skin and stem contact averaged 30 days (7-day cold soak, 2+ weeks of fermentation and 1+ week extended maceration). From the press, the wine was transferred directly into neutral barrel (15+ year old French oak), where it remained sur lie without sulfur until July, when it was gently racked for the first time and prepared for bottling in August. Yields were 1.7lbs/vine (1.5 tons/acre).