SONOMA-CUTRER® OWSLEY VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR

SONOMA-CUTRER ®
OWSLEY VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR
Vintage 2012 • Russian River Valley Pinot Noir • Estate Bottled
OBSERVATIONS ON A NEW VINTAGE
We started the year with significantly low rainfall, but significant April showers helped to get the season started. By early May, perfect weather arrived
and remained throughout the summer months. The cool mornings and hot
afternoons allowed for the fruit to come in slow and steady. The cooling fog
that rolls in off the Pacific Ocean through the Bloomfield Gap cools the
Owsley Vineyard, adds additional hang time, making it consistently the last
vineyard that we harvest each year. The Pinot Noir for this year’s Owsley
Vineyard Pinot Noir was harvested on October 2 and 5. The near perfect
weather resulted in a long ripening season providing us with a classically
elegant, fruit-driven Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
OUR OWSLEY VINEYARD
ON THE WINE
Grapes are picked at night, placed into small bins, and hand-sorted before a
gentle destemming. During the four-day cold soak and fermentation, the
wine is punched down by hand in small, open-top fermenters. When
fermentation is complete, the wine is gently pressed, gravity-racked to
barrels, and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation. We mature our
Owsley Vineyard Pinot Noir in a regimen of one-third each of new,
once-used, and twice-used French oak barrels. After resting for 16 months
in oak, the final blend is assembled and prepared for bottling. It is then
allowed to evolve in the bottle for an additional 6 months.
This wine expresses the unique characteristics of the Owsley Vineyard.
Aromas of black raspberry, blackberry, maple syrup, boysenberry and
complex earth and forest floor are accented with toasty oak, cocoa, plum,
allspice and a berry jam reduction. The wine is rich, elegant and bold with
well-integrated tannins, a smooth and silky texture and a long, bold finish.
Flavors of dark berries and black cherry lead to a long, big-spice finish with
notes of warm spice, toasty oak, and cinnamon toast.
Please Share the Cutrer Responsibly.
Alcohol: 14.4% • TA: 5.2 gms/L
pH: 3.7 • RS: 0.12 gms/L
100% Pinot Noir
Owsley Vineyard lots: K Top
©2014 Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards®, Windsor, Sonoma County, California USA • Visit Sonoma-Cutrer on the web at www.sonoma-cutrer.com
This vintage of our Owsley Vineyard Pinot Noir comes from two separate
picks from the K Top block. The climate of the Owsley Vineyard has more
influence on grape character than its soil. Pinot Noir grapes thrive here. K
Top is the western most vineyard block receiving the coolest breezes off the
ocean and drastic temperature fluctuations due to its facing & slope, which
develop exceptional depth and rich, concentrated fruit flavors in the wine.