2005 Tall Poppy Estate Pinot Noir

Winemaker: Stephen J. Cary

Since 1998 we have enjoyed an unprecedented string of fine vintages and the 2005 Tall Poppy is one of our best efforts, even among this raft of wonderful wines. This wine, only the fourth Tall Poppy ever, has all the richness of the marvelous 1998 with even more lovely sweet fruit and elegance, similar to the 2002. It has shown these qualities from the start and never more pleasantly than when I write this now (5/08). It has come into its own and is now showing beautifully. While we expect this wine to live a respectfully long life, we plan to enjoy it over the next four years in order to take full advantage of its fabulous, graceful fruit.

There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ year in grape growing but this one was close to that theoretical concept. We returned to a cooler growing season with later harvest dates than we have seen since 1997. Unlike many of our near neighbors to the east, our yields were in the normal range, about 1.9 tons/acre. We took the grapes for this special wine from three of our oldest plots between October 17 and 22. From these lots just eight barrels stood out so much that I decided to bottle them separately, a total of just 200 cases.

After sailing through a trouble free fermentation the wine was barreled down in French oak for 16 months of aging. It was bottled in February of 2007 and then bottle aged until its release in May of 2008.

As is typical of Pinots from the recently recognized McMinnville AVA, and certainly true of our Tall Poppys, this wine is robust and structured. It has lots of sweet, dark fruit and mocha character but also the acid and tannin to give it spark and help it live a relatively long life.

Harvest Info:
Picking Dates: October, between the 17th & 22nd
Plots: Three of our oldest; Old Pommard, Morning Light, Deerefielde
Brix: 24.1
pH: 3.43
TA 6.4 g/ltr

Fermentation:
1.5 ton bin fermenters
Yeast: inoculated
Maceration: Punch down once daily
Duration: 10 days

Aging:
Vessels: French oak, primarily one and two years old
Production: Eight barrels
Duration: 16 months

Bottling:
Dates: Feb 14, 15/2007
PH: 3.6 – TA 5.5g/l – Alcohol 14.2%
Cases Produced: 200
Release Date: May 2008
Retail Price: $75/bottle

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