HARVESTED: August 27th – September 30th, 2021
VINEYARD: Santa Cruz Mountains
SOILS: loamy clay
BOTTLED: February 2023, 450 cases
COMPOSITION: 100% Pinot Noir
ALCOHOL: 13.6%
WINEMAKER: Charlie Miller
VINEYARD MANAGER: Thayer Dunwoody
VINTAGE NOTES
2021 vintage was truly a postcard vintage! The continued severe drought had a predictable (and not bad) effect: the berries themselves were smaller, which generally means smaller crops, smaller clusters but concentrated, high-quality wines. The growing season started earlier in the year – also drought-related – so the harvest started sooner and moved faster than usual. The post-veraison period was warm but mostly moderated, leading to steady and very even ripening. Vintages of such magnitude generally deliver wines with great transparency to the vineyard.
WINEMAKING NOTES
We harvest our Pinot Noir sequentially with co-fermentation in mind, filling open top tanks and T-bins with vineyards matching in fruit profiles. We employ some whole-cluster fermentation (roughly 20% in 2021), providing extra structure and tannin to the final cuvee. The rest of the vineyards were destemmed whole berry and hand sorted on the shaker table. All fruit is cold soaked prior to fermentation to deepen color, followed by either inoculation of commercial yeast strains or native yeasts. The ferments are gently punched down by hand two to three times a day with peak fermentation temps hitting roughly 90 degrees F. The wine is left on skins for a total of 15-20 days. Our 2021 vintage saw 10% new French oak and was aged in barrel for 16 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
TASTING NOTES
The 2021 Sequence pinot noir has a dark dusty ruby red core that transforms to light garnet hues on the rim. The nose is well balanced, fruit forward and highly perfumed with classic coastal California pinot noir aromatics. The wine is fleshy, medium bodied, has soft tannins and a textured velvety like mouth feel. Robust cherry and berry aromas dominate the mid palate all framed by toasted oak and chinese five spice notes. The finish is long and persistent with balanced minerality and acid. Perfect with poultry, fish or a dry aged steak!
CELLARING
Enjoy now or over the next 3-5 years.