2003 Wedell Cellars Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir

For our 2003 Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir we chose a field mix of three different dijon clones of pinot noir (clones 115, 667 & 777) to create a truly complex and intricate Pinot Noir.

It has always been our philosophy that less is more and the 2003 Wedell Cellars Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir is a stunning example of how well Pinot Noir benefits from this practice. The 2003 vintage was very challenging, bud break and early growth were normal, but at the start of May as the Pinot Noir was flowering, there was considerable rain, this resulted in a very small crop set and was only a warning of the difficulties that were to follow. The summer was very humid and warm and the strain on the thin skinned Pinot Noir was evident throughout the vineyard, we dropped fruit and did aggressive leaf pulling to compensate for these problems, this only further reduced the yield on the vineyard, but in doing so we were able to achieve an ideal balance of sugar and acidity necessary to create an exceptional Pinot Noir. At harvest there was under a half of a ton of Pinot Noir to be had, barely enough to make one barrel. After harvest the grapes were destemmed and hand sorted, the free run juice resulting from the destemming was pumped off and discarded (saignee), the grapes were then cold soaked for two days and then open top fermented with the cap being punched down on a regular basis, finally after ten days of fermentation the wine was gently pressed off. While aging the wine underwent complete malolactic fermentation and in February 2005 the wine was racked off its lees and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The deep color and intense bouquet of cherry, raspberry and cranberry are only a hint at what an extraordinary wine we have created. The richness and complexity is reminiscent of a truly exceptional Pinot Noir, we feel that this wine while enjoyable now will only improve for years to come.