Pinot Noir

Excellent low-yielding sites, classic low-impact winemaking techniques, and careful maturation in top new French oak, capture the typicity of these sites – and the purity of this red grape variety. FORAGER speaks to how growing, gathering, and judiciously blending small lots of delicious Pinot Noir can deliver serious flavor and interest.

2021, our 13th Forager vintage, was an amazing growing season – we got everything we needed; plentiful sunshine, “enough” precipitation, cool nights, and minimal pest problems. The ’21 Pinot Noir grape clusters were medium-sized, had deep color, abundant ripe red fruit qualities, and a very nice zippiness.

Maturation:
20% New French Oak for eleven months

The western part of the Sonoma Coast appellation is known for foggy damp mornings, followed by afternoon breezes which blow off the fog, leaving brilliant sunny afternoons and cold nights. This is manna for top-level Pinot Noir. Our 2021 Pinot Noir comes from two clones grown in low yielding, cool sites with gravelly loam soils. Each site and clone provided different aromas, flavors & structure, and we developed the blend from these diverse components.

Regional Composition:
100% Sonoma Coast AVA

Varietal Composition:
Clone/Selections: 115, Pommard 5

Hand-harvested between September 9 and 22, the compact Pinot Noir bunches were handled with a light touch in cellar. They were hand-sorted, mostly destemmed, crushed, and cold soaked for 2 days in five-ton open-top fermenters. The small portion that fermented “whole cluster” added nice “grip”. A very light dash of natural sulfur was added at the crusher and fermentation began with prevailing, “local” yeasts and was completed with Burgundian yeast. Moderate fermentation temperatures (88°F) and 1 pigeage (punch-down) per day helped build structure, color, and texture. After a gentle press (<1bar), ML took place in barrel followed by eleven months maturation(no racking) which contributed nuanced spiciness and a velvety mouthfeel. New French oak plays a supporting role in its aromatics. 44 barrels (~1045 cases) bottled June 2023.

Cork forests sequester about one ton of carbon per year, so we have adopted carbon-neutral and FSC-certified natural corks. We also moved to FSC-certified recycled paper and compostable inks, as well as a lighter weight (467 grams) recycled glass bottle. Please recycle if available in your area. Our new label features original art by the late Helen Steele, renown northern California artist. We interpret her piece as a family slowly foraging along the Sonoma coastline, perhaps finding mussels, clams, seaweed and other bounty from the sea.

This stunning Pinot Noir opens with aromas of ripe red cherries and hints of delicate rose petal. The graceful palette offers bright lift with clementine and tamarind with a hint of fresh thyme,. The soft tannins weave a lattice of lingering acidity and silky texture that will become more generous as the wine breathes. Because this is a minimal intervention, naturally made red wine, it may throw a harmless, natural deposit.