Longoria Wines: Santa Barbara county

A long cool growing season in the Santa Maria Valley brought precious few clusters of Pinot Noir grapes to a perfect balance of maturity at Bien Nacido Vineyard in 2002. A mere three and a quarter tons of fruit were harvested from my 1.6 acre section of block N, resulting in just 200 cases of wine.

The grapes were harvested on September 22nd at 24.7 Brix with perfect acidity.

Once delivered to the winery, we destemmed the grapes into small open top fermenters. A cold soak period of three days preceded the addition of a yeast culture for a ten day fermentation. The wine was pressed off of the skins and settled in a tank for four days, then transferred to French oak barrels, one third of which were new, to age for twelve months. Unlike the majority of previous vintages of Bien Nacido Pinot Noir, the wine was not fined to reduce the tannins. I felt the tannin level was moderate but the intensity and lusciousness of the fruit flavors adequately offset the tannins. Additionally, I felt this vintage had the fruit intensity to match the tannin structure to enable it to develop the complexity in the bottle over the next four to seven years. During bottling, the wine was loosely filtered to render it brilliant to the eye.

Classic Pinot Noir aromas of spice and wild raspberry leap from the glass. On the palate the wine is medium bodied, with rich, full berry flavors and a hint of oak vanillin overridden slightly by chalky tannins. The wine’s acid structure is well balanced providing a long complex finish.

I feel that this wine is one of the finest versions of Bien Nacido Pinot Noir that I have had the pleasure of producing since beginning to work with these grapes in 1993. It should continue to improve in the bottle with four to seven years of additional cellaring. Serve with duck, pork, rabbit and other game meats.

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir: Bien Nacido Vineyard

pH: 3.58
Alcohol by volume: 14.5%
Titratible acidity: .58g/100 ml.
Production: 200 cases
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