August Briggs Dijon Clone Pinot Noir

‘Dijon Clones’ Sonoma County Pinot Noir  One of the factors improving the overall quality of Pinot Noir in California is the planting of the so-called ‘Dijon Clones’ of Pinot Noir which we brought in from Burgundy in the 1960's. They are known for their purity of fruit and focused structure. We are fortunate that our friends at Robert Sinskey winery were able to offer to us some amazing ’777’ Dijon Clone fruit from their Ramal Road Vineyard which  is located at the southernmost end of the town of Sonoma. For this vintage, much like the previous one in 2016, the wine is lighter with lower alcohol which makes it great for early consumption. This wine is enticingly fragrant with an aroma of damson plum, dried spice, light oak and lavender. Pomegranate and a touch of tea leaves belie the fresh fruit character. Flavors of cranberry and citrus mix with the earth notes adding depth and intrigue.  After hand sorting, the clusters were de-stemmed into a small open-top fermenter.  After a two-day cold soak, the must was inoculated with Assmanhausen yeast.  The cap was punched-down twice daily, by hand.  After a gentle pressing, the wine was inoculated for malo-lactic fermentation and barreled down to traditional burgundian barrels.  The barrels used were 37.5% new French oak and 62.5% two and three year old French barrels and aged 9 months before bottling.           

100% Pinot Noir Sonoma County

13.9% 200 9 months French Oak