2005 Wedell Cellars "Hillside Vineyard" Pinot Noir 750ml

In 1995 we planted a small steep north facing hillside vineyard in the southern end of Edna Valley with a field mix of three different dijon clones of pinot noir (clones 115, 667 & 777) on low vigor root stock (rootstock 420a). While to our knowledge, nobody else had tried this approach with pinot noir, we believed that by doing these things we could delay bud break, increase hang time and acidity while keeping the vineyard’s yield exceptionally low and could potentially produce an exceptional pinot noir. After five years of intense farming our Hillside Vineyard finally began producing a small crop. The wines that have come from it, Wedell Cellars Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir, have been widely praised in the wine press. Decanter Magazine stated that it could be easily mistaken for Domaine De La Romanee Conti while The Wine Enthusiast remarked that it is one of the best Central Coast Pinot Noirs in memory.

Our 1.25 acre Hillside Vineyard was planted at a density of almost 2000 vines per acre, yet the yield in 2005 from more than 2300 vines was under 2 tons (slightly less than two pounds per vine). The already low vigor vines are crop thinned to one cluster per shoot and no more than four shoots per vine, the average cluster being less than eight ounces! The 2005 vintage was a remarkably cool growing season. There some weeks that we did not even see the sun! As a result the grapes remained on the vines until late September, an unusually long time. The grapes after being selectively hand harvested were destemmed, the free run juice was then pumped off and discarded (saignee). The grapes were cold soaked for two days and finally spent ten days on their skins fermenting, after which only the free run juice was placed in three new oak French barrels and one used French oak barrel to complete malolactic fermentation and age sur lies for twenty months. The wine was never racked, it was gravity bottled off its lees, unfined and unfiltered on April 25, 2007.

The deep color and intense bouquet of black cherry and raspberry are only a hint of what an extraordinary wine we have created. The rich mid palate and complex finish are reminiscent of a truly exceptional pinot noir. We feel that while our 2005 Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir is enjoyable now it has the proper balance to benefit and improve with more bottle age for years to come.