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I once again obtained my grapes from the smallest and most densely planted block at Mt. Carmel, sharing the grapes equally with my long time friend, Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat. The heat spell that occurred in late August through early September did not seem to adversely affect this particular block at Mt. Carmel.

The grapes were harvested on September 11 with an average sugar reading of 25.5 Brix. They were 100% destemmed and gently moved to small open top fermenters. The grapes were pressed off twenty four days later, and the wine settled for two days before being transferred to French oak barrels, of which 40% were new.

The wine was barrel aged for eleven months and bottled in late August, 2005. The aromas are a decadent mixture of ripe cherries, Asian spices, sweet tobacco and vanillin. On the palate the wine is rich and mouth filling, with flavors of sweet tobacco, candied cherries and orange rinds. The wine has mild tannins and a slight bit of walnut like astringency which will require a year or more of bottle aging to soften.

This wine is highly enjoyable now but will benefit from two to four more years of bottling aging to reach a peak of development. Enjoy with duck and other wild game birds, pork, mushrooms, and foie gras accented dishes.

A note to our fans of this particular vineyard designated wine. This is our last bottling of wine from this vineyard, since it has been taken over by another local winery. Our loss has inspired us to search for another source of grapes hopefully with the ability to produce grapes comparable to those at Mt. Carmel. Stay tuned!

Rick Longoria, Winemaker
May 1, 2006

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir - Mt. Carmel Vineyard

Production: 101 cases .
Alcohol by volume: 15.9%
Titratible acidity: 0.64 g/100 ml
pH: 3.61
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