2021 Pinot Noir, Gary's VineyardSanta Lucia Highlands
Our 2021 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir is a strikingly expressive wine, boasting the seductive dark fruit and focused structure that this storied vineyard is known for. Fresh blueberry compote, black cherry and raspberry form the wine’s juicy core with hints of brown spice and sweet pipe tobacco adding dimension. On the palate, the mouthfilling richness finds tension from bright acidity that lifts and enlivens the long berry-tinged finish.
Vineyard: The crown jewel of Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands growing region, the Garys’ Vineyard is named for rock star growers Gary Franscioni and Gary Pisoni, lifelong friends who planted the site in 1997. Named “one of the most famous vineyards in California” by Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal, the vineyard sits on 50 hill-side acres and is planted to 46 acres of Pinot Noir and 4 acres of Syrah. Daily gusts from the nearby Monterey Bay along with well-drained Arroyo Seco soils and some of the most meticulous vineyard management we’ve ever seen combine to form the ideal terroir for producing world class Pinot Noir noted for its depth, complexity and structure. A near ideal growing season in 2021, that saw mild weather and continued drought stress, amplified the site’s renowned fruit concentration and complex structure.
Winemaking: All Saxon Brown Pinot Noirs are treated to the same winemaking protocols to maximize the individual character of each site. In keeping with that, we picked our Garys’ Vineyard fruit at night, and transported the fruit by dawn to the winery where it was de-stemmed into small open-top tanks for cold soak at 45F. After three days, the must was allowed to warm and begin fermentation. At this point, we added a select strain of red Burgundian yeast and began thrice daily punch downs. When primary fermentation was complete, the wine was pressed to new French oak barrels for 17 months, where it completed malolactic fermentation and settled. Once ready, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered
Tech Info:
Case Production: 194
Harvest Date: 9/14/21
Brix at Harvest: 24.1
Clone: Pisoni Selection
Aging: 17 mo in 50% New French Oak
Bottled: 3/10/23
Alc: 14.2%
TA: 6.3
pH: 3.34