2016 Mysterious Pinot Noir 3 Litre
Site Characteristics: This site is located in the bowl off of Worden Hill Rd. where it lies adjacent to vineyards such as Winderlea, Arcus and Maresh. We don’t get fruit from this vineyard very often but we certainly never shy away from taking it. The 2016 bottling was the 3rd year we’ve worked with the fruit (2009 and 2014 were the previous two vintages). Missing out on 2015 was not due to lack of effort on our part, for sure. This is one of the great Pinot Noir vineyards in America. The vineyard is steeply pitched vineyard and resembles a cone. The farming is impeccable. It lies on a hillside replete with some of the oldest and most noteworthy vineyards in Oregon, but beyond that it is on a hillside that is filled with people who love their vines and love this special Dundee Hills site. There is magic here for sure. In 2014 we were getting two sections of the vineyard, one that made structured, subtle wine and one that made wow wine. In 2016 we had to settle for the wow section: 27-year-old Pommard Clone vines on a very steep, southeast facing part of the slope planted at high-density that produce intense, wonderful fruit. Low tonnage to the acre amped things up a bit as well.
Winemaking and Notes: Two fermenters were done with 20% whole clusters and one with 100% whole clusters. They were assembled before bottling at those ratios. 17% new barrel was used with a combination of once to four times used barrels to round out the barrel program. This wine wants to be perfect. It is youthful and jumpy right now. As of writing this, there is so much material rolling around with fruit and tannin. Its characteristics are sort of all over the place. Not unusual for great wines to begin at stages like this. This has power, concentration, dry extract, subtle spice undertones and enormous length to it. This is not necessarily a powerhouse, but it has so much to it that it’s impossible to doubt that there is profundity in this wine’s future. Taste it now for all the incredible stuff going on but get it because it will be great years down the road.