2018 GOWC Cattrall Vyd Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir

13.8

Wild black cherries, violets, and wormwood on the nose. The palate is focused with vibrant acidity, dense, confectionary fruit, and fine, velveteen tannins. Finishes long and elegant, with notes of plum conserve and sandalwood.

The Cattrall Vineyard is a family owned and farmed by five generations of the family since 1917. Oregon’s first certified organic vineyard farmed organically since inception. Yamhill soils: well drained, medium depth ancient basaltic soils with an elevation of 750 feet with Northern exposure. This Pinot Noir was sourced from Own-rooted Upright and Wadenswil clone Pinot Noir planted in 1973 and 1979 by the Cattrall Brothers.

The fruit was 100% destemmed with a high percentage of whole berries to 1.5 ton fermenters. Cold soak lengths of an average of seven days ensured gentle yet thorough extraction of color and flavor. The small lots were fermented for an average of twelve days, and hand punched two to three times daily. The wine was aged twenty months in mixed French cooperage two years old before blending. This wine was bottled without fining or filtration.

A cool early spring delayed bud break slightly, but warm weather helped the grapes catch up in time to bloom right on schedule in mid-to-late June. While the summer was warmer and quite a bit drier than usual, temperatures topped out in the low to mid-nineties with few extreme heat spikes, setting up a balanced year with great concentration. We picked the grapes in early October, following a pleasant string of warm days tempered by cool nights in the late summer and early fall. This weather pattern allowed for development of complex fruit flavors and the retention of fresh, vibrant acidity that we feel will set this classic vintage apart from a string of other recent ripe vintages.