2008 Pinot Noir Kiana

TASTING NOTES
The aromatics are mostly of red fruits persisting with tart cherries, and floral tones such as rose petal. There’s a beautiful balance to this wine with bright acidity, upfront sweetness, and soft, round tannins that add viscosity and creaminess to the rich mouth feel. The wine will benefit from 2-3 years in the cellar and age well for 8 to 10 years from its release date.  We recommend that you open the wine an hour before serving.

Pair with guinea hen, quail, or Grilled Salmon with Mustard-Wine Sauce — this wine is very versatile with food.

VINTAGE
The 2008 vintage was a classic Oregon nail-biting, nerve-wracking exercise with a win on the finish line. Beginning with a cold late winter, 2008 continued into a very cool spring with March and April temperatures about 3 degrees below average.  The 50% bud break mark was not reached until the 2nd of May, and 50% veraison, when roughly half of the berries have changed color, did not occur until September 5th.  For a while it looked like we would have a disaster on our hands, but Mother Nature took mercy on us by delivering less than 1.5” of rain in September and 2.4” in October, with sunny days and cool nights in both months.  The result is excellent ripeness due to prolonged hang time, good acidity and lower levels of alcohol.  A winemaker’s dream! We started harvest on October 1st, with the Terres Basses vineyard as usual, finishing on October 30th just before the downpour began.  We are extremely pleased with the 2008 wines, which show finesse, concentration and great balance.

 

VINEYARDS
The vineyard is named after Ronni and Bernard’s granddaughter Kiana, which is Hawaiian for goddess.  The vines were planted in 1996 and 1997 using new Dijon clonal material Pinot Noir 777 and 114.  Two different rootstocks were used according to the structure of the soil.  The young vines were drip irrigated regularly for the first two years, then sparingly thereafter.  The berries produced are characteristic of the new Dijon clones, tending to be smaller with a higher skin to juice ratio, which results in more intense flavors in the wine.

Yield:  2.6 tons per acre / Brix:  24.1° / pH:  3.60 / T.A.:  6.2

 

WINEMAKING
In our gravity-fed winery, this 2008 Pinot Noir was handcrafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style.  During this process, a cool maceration preceded the open-top, Burgundian style fermentation for a total of 24 days of skin contact and daily punch downs by ‘Bigfoot’, our pneumatic punch down device.  The wine was then gravity fed directly to barrels where it underwent 100% malolactic fermentation during the next 7 months.  The wine spent a total of 15 months in 40% new French oak from a selection of coopers.  The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Alcohol:  14.2% / pH:  3.75 / TA:  5.7

 

REVIEWS
WINE SPECTATOR, May 2011:  “Lithe and distinctive for the meaty, toasty undertones to the red berry and spice flavors, lilting on the long, light-textured finish. Drink now through 2015.” – Harvey Steiman
 
ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE
“The 2008 Pinot Noir Kiana spent 14 months in 40% new French oak. Aromas of cedar, game, clove, black cherry, and blueberry lead to a smooth-textured, structured, savory wine that, like its siblings, will benefit from another 2-3 years of cellaring.”  - Jay Miller
 
STEPHEN TANZER’S INTERNATIONAL WINE CELLAR
“Vivid red. Dark berries, cherry pit and musky herbs on the nose, with a smoky quality gaining strength with air. Chewy and precise, with sappy black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors given spine by zesty acidity. The lively finish shows a brighter red fruit note and clings with good grip.” - Josh Raynolds

 

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To see tasting notes from previous vintages please visit our Trade Toolkit