This Yamhill-Carlton bottling comes from Winkler Vineyard on top of Mount Richmond in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, between 650 and 700 feet elevation, the soil are basaltic, a mix of Jory, Bellpine and Ritner. Winkler Vineyard is 11.81 acres of Pinot Noir Dijon 115 and 777 and 3.31 acres of Pinot Blanc planted from 1997 to 2003.
Production Notes
Harvested on September 12, 20 and 21, the fruit was handpicked, sorted, destemmed, then fermented without whole clusters, in small 1.5 ton bins for 15 to 17 days before pressing. This blend is 76.47% Dijon 115 and 23.53% Dijon 777. The wine aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 11.76% new oak, 11.76% one year old and the rest neutral. . The barrels were racked in April, after Malo-Lactic fermentation then again in August when the blend was put together before returning to neutral barrels until bottling. This wine was neither fined nor filtered.
Winemaker Notes
The 2015 growing season started with bud break in early April, following a mostly dry and mild winter that hardly had any snowpack in the mountains and triggered draught in the late summer. We experienced an early and dry spring as in 2013 and 2014 that followed a dry and warm February. The early, fast moving bloom started late May, and a really dry summer followed. By early August we knew harvest was going to start early, but September cooled down, allowing for great flavor development. Harvest at Torii Mor started September 12th and was in full swing by the 15th, all the way through October 5 for Willamette Valley fruit. The lack of rainfall during the summer didn’t manifest itself in the vineyards where the vines stayed green and healthy through harvest.