Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
The 2014 Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir displays a wine of aromatic complexity and fruit flavor density along with structural delicacy. There are aromas of dark cherry compote and macerated strawberries spiced with allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The refined mouthfeel shows silkiness and creamy richness accompanied by precise acidity and excellent length. This wine promises to develop additional complexity for another five to eight years of cellaring and beyond.
Awards
93 Points, Pinot File. 92 Points, Wine Enthusiast Best of Year Buying Guide. 91 Points, Wine Advocate. 91 Points, 2 stars, Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine. Gold Medal, TEXSOM. Gold Medal, Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Double Gold Medal, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Vineyard Notes
The 2014 vintage produced Pinot Noir wines with impressive quality, spectacular balance, concentration and incredible depth of character. After the driest year on record coupled with below-average rainfall, the 2014 growing season influenced by the drought accelerated bud break, which occurred two weeks earlier than usual, followed by an early veraison. However, a nearly perfect summer of consistent and moderate weather provided an extended period of gradual ripening and gave us the ability to make precision picking decisions which resulted in ideal ripeness.
Production Notes
Olivet Lane Vineyard Pinot Noir grapes are harvested in the cool of the early morning fog and then carried down the individual rows of vines to the winery, where they undergo hand-selecting and destemming. The berries are tipped gently to small open-top fermenters, where they reside fro about 14 days. Fermentation is delayed by chilling to allow a five-day period of cold-soak before fermentation which allows optimal extraction of color and flavor from the skins. The must is punched down several times daily during fermentation to achieve gentle extraction. Once fermentation is finished the wine from each tank is maintained as separate lots and drained directly to barrels by gravity. Aging in barrels takes place for 16 months, with a single racking of each barrel off primary lees in the spring before bottling.