Orogeny Pinot Noir 2021, Russian River Valley, California

The geological term ‘orogeny’ comes from Greek oro, mountain, and -geny, birth. Orogeny is the process during which the collisions and separations of the earth’s crust form mountains. The last orogenic episode in Sonoma County created The Russian River Valley, the unique source for these grapes. Well-drained soils, warm days and cool nights chilled by maritime fog. The grapes were selected from 4 vineyards located in the Russian River Valley AVA, with different soil types and clone selections, resulting in a myriad of flavors. Grapes were sorted 3 times: first in the vineyard and then at the winery as both clusters and destemmed berries. The berries were cold soaked with twice daily punch-downs, for gentle extraction of varietal character and tannins. Fermentation in small, open-top fermenters, with gentle punch downs of the cap was followed by in-barrel malolactic fermentation to round acidity. Aged in French oak barrels (50% new) for 10 months to add nicely integrated oak spice and toffee to the berry character.