Winemaking and Notes:  Winemaking and Notes:As the Estate vines tap their roots deep into the soft sub-soil they eventually make contact with the mineralized water on the property. This brings a whole new element to the flavor and texture profile of the wine. This bottling comes from barrels sourced from both the West and East Etzel Blocks done both destemmed and with 50% whole cluster fermentations, a 1990 planting of Pinot Gris that was grafted to Pommard in 2002 that was done with three fermenters of destemmed fruit which were all pressed together, a 1997 planting of Pommard on a steep southwest facing slope that was all fermented with 50% whole clusters and 9 barrels of Wadensvil (for the first time ever in this bottling!) with fermentations ranging from destemmed to 66% whole cluster. Given the diversity within the vineyard (we have a 360-degree aspect on our hillside vineyard) and the range of vine age (22-33 years) we were able to pick at different times and then blend this together with a greater degree of diversity than we have ever had available. The wine was bottled with just over 20% new barrel. The assemblage for this particular wine is always fascinating, because you can see the wine come together as the elements from each block are added in. This wine is one of the few truly older vine bottlings that exists from Ribbon Ridge. Older vineyards here, have the capacity to translate the mineral laden nature of our water and soil into the refined, focused nature of the fruit. This AVA is a special place and makes some of the most interesting, dramatic and amazing as some of our bottlings, and this is one of them!