Fall Release Finn Pinot Noir
2018

Winemaker’s Notes

Here we arrive at the pinnacle of our winegrowing efforts in this remarkable vintage. If you told me this is the finest wine in our entire history, I wouldn’t necessarily argue the point. The wine is beautifully poised between power and delicacy, depth and vibrancy, basically encapsulating the entire 2018 Pinot vintage. It is as pure and nuanced a translation of coastal Russian River Pinot as I’ve tasted, a completely unadulterated expression of everything we love about living and working in this magical area.

As usual, the wine comprises a strict selection of the finest fruit from two neighboring vineyards planted on complementary soils, marine sandstone and silty clay loam. It’s a wine created in the vineyard rather than blended later in the cellar, completely true to its complex origins, not a product of overarching winemaking technique. The young, post-fermentation wine was gently sent to barrel as a single lot, an approach I believe is critical to its harmony and equilibrium.

Effusive, ebullient aromas leap from the glass: blackberry, orange peel, juniper and sandalwood. The wine possesses clear detail, penetration and lift. The palate spans the entire spectrum of red to blue to black fruits—black cherry, boysenberry and tart red berries—with lovely flow and integration. Complex mossy underbrush elements are revealed with air on a round, layered finish that rises in energy and finesse. Drink between mid 2021 and 2032. There’s no need to decant; just allow the wine to unfold naturally in the glass. Bottled unfiltered.

Andy Smith