Hawley Pinot Noir 2007, Oehlman Vineyard, Russian River Valley

The grapes for this Hawley Pinot Noir came from Oehlman Vineyards located on vine hill, in the Russian River Valley appellation. This steep South East facing slope is planted with the Martini clone and farmed by Karl Oehlman and his family. The 2007 growing season was very dry with a slow growing season and late harvest. We were able to pick after a heat spike, when the sugar levels had dropped back down. This slowed ripening and the additional “hang time” on the vine led to exceptional flavor development. In 2007, the Pinot Noir crop was less than two tons per acre, resulting in extremely concentrated flavors. Brix at harvest 24.5

Winemaking

The ripe fruit was de-stemmed and crushed into small one-ton open-top fermentors and chilled using dry ice. After a week of maceration, the must was allowed to warm up and wild yeasts began fermentation. A small inoculum of yeast was added to control the fermentation. At dryness, the skins were pressed out using a 100 year old manual basket press to ensure astringent characters are not pressed out. The wine is pressed directly into French Burgundy barrels (50% new) and aged for 15 months.

American winemakers have worked very hard to reproduce the high quality of French Burgundian Pinot Noirs for many years with limited success. For a time we thought that the key to quality had to do with vinification procedures, but the real key was more complex than that. Here are some of the factors that we think are especially important:

• Matching the variety to the right site:
Pinot thrives in the cool, coastal areas of California. Weak, well-drained, hillsides help enhance flavor concentration. Hot weather is to be avoided as it leads to Pinot Noir with low color, weak flavor, and low acidity.

• Better clones:
Using the right clones can help enhance quality. Mixing together several clones helps to make more complex wines. Up until 15 years ago we did not have access to the diverse clonal selections we have today.

• Small lot fermentation:
Fermentation in small fermenters helps ensure superior flavor and color development in the wine.

• Barrel aging:
Heavily toasted French Burgundy barrels enhance the quality of Pinot Noir dramatically.

• Fully ripe grapes:
Pinot Noir needs to be fully and evenly ripe to make exciting wine. The use of special trellises, removal of green fruit during veraison (when the grapes are turning from green to red), and careful monitoring of the ripening fruit in the field, help to ensure that the grapes are fully ripe when they are picked.

• Control of crop level:
It is generally agreed that Pinot Noir is very sensitive to crop load. High quality cannot be maintained when production exceeds 3 ½ tons per acre.

• Careful handling:
Pinot Noir is very thin-skinned and delicate. Production methods and equipment have to be adjusted to take this into account. Methods that work for Cabernet Sauvignon are not appropriate for Pinot.

• Hand harvesting:
This is crucial for Pinot Noir. Machine harvesters turn the fruit to mush and release coarse flavors into the resulting wine.

Technical

Tasting Notes

This Pinot Noir shows complex aromas of coffee and vanilla to complement the deep cherry and raspberry flavors from the grapes. In the mouth the wine is rich and opulent, with generous ripe fruit flavors and a long, silky-smooth finish. This wine will continue to improve for many years to come.