2009 Pinot Noir Triple Black Slopes

TASTING NOTES
Concentrated and focused with a lovely perfume of clove, cinnamon spice, vanilla and violets that carries over to the palate. Juicy red fruits and velvety tannins meld perfectly into an amaro and cassis jam finish. This medium bodied and exceptionally balanced wine offers a distinctive profile and seamless integration, which will continue to improve with age. We recommend holding for 1 to 2 years before opening, or if not, decant at least one hour before serving. Aging potential is 8-10 years.

The wine will pair well with roasted pheasant with quince or a pepper crusted steak.

 

VINTAGE
The 2009 vintage started with a slightly delayed budbreak in the third week of April. After swift canopy growth from mid-May to June, full bloom ensued by June 18th, resulting in a healthy fruit set. By July, summer heat spells hastened fruit development and seed hardening. By executing a strategic leaf pulling program, we were able to delay exposing the fruit, despite the potential for sunburn damage, which was minimal compared to other sites in the valley where pulling was heavy and early. The growing season provided ample vegetative growth with a focus on maintaining a contained canopy, guiding the plant from green growth to fruit growth. Our clusters were abundant in number and plump with the start of veraison, from August 5th, onward. With appropriate hedging and fruit thinning, we managed to keep our target yields. The fruit matured progressively with very little fruit rot and increasingly lower yield, as dehydration set in. Harvest began on September 21st with Terres Basses and ended on October 12th. The overall quality of the fruit was exceptional with full, heavy clusters, good color, and an ideal balance of sugars and acids

VINEYARDS
The “Triple Black Slopes” vineyard is composed of 4 blocks facing due south. Each slope is separated from the other by canyons where blackberries and quails abound. As the name indicates (it comes from the black diamond ski slopes designation), it is the steepest part of the vineyard and we farm the “slopes” with narrow track tractors and our best tractor drivers. The elevation varies from 500’ to 675’. The vineyard was planted in 1999 to Dijon clones 114 and 777. The rows are oriented north-south with an average density of 1750 plants per acre, and the vines are trained into an upright double guyot trellising system. The combination of the steep terrain, the south-facing orientation and the clonal selection contributes to the intensity of the wine.

Yield: 2.4 tons/acres — Brix: 24.8º — pH: 3.5 — TA: 6.2

WINEMAKING
In our gravity-fed winery, the 2009 Triple Black Slopes Pinot Noir was handcrafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style. A cool maceration preceded the open-top, Burgundian style fermentation for a total of 26 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 6 months. The wine spent a total of 15 months in 50% new French oak from a selection of coopers.

Alcohol: 14.4 % pH: 3.7 TA: 5.3

 

REVIEWS

For the 2008 Vintage

THE WINE SPECTATOR
“Fresh and zesty, brimming with black cherry, floral and mineral flavors, persisting impressively on the deftly balanced finish. Drink now through 2018.”  -Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator Insider, May 11, 2011

WINE & SPIRITS MAGAZINE
“The steepest hills at WillaKenzie offer the epitome of expression for the 2008 vintage: softly etched scents of tar and pine, a hint of black soil and black cherry. The balance is perfectly poised between fruit and earth, the flavors at peak ripeness but not overt, the finish driven by fruit tannin. Those tannins are on point, marked by the oak’s expression
of Asian spice. With so much life coursing through this fresh wine, it’s delicious now with roast salmon, yet suited to
further bottle age. (548 cases)”

STEPHEN TANZER’S INT’L WINE CELLAR
“Full ruby with a bright rim. Bright scents of black raspberry, cherry, rose and spicecake, with a hint of vanilla. At once dense and lively, offering zesty red and dark berry and cherry-cola flavors that pick up weight and sweetness with air. Fine-grained tannins build on the long, oak-spiced finish, which features notes of candied cherry, flowers and licorice.” - Josh Raynolds

ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE
“The 2008 Pinot Noir Triple Black Slopes spent 15 months in 50% new oak. It offers up a reticent, brooding bouquet of wood smoke, exotic spices, and black fruits. Dense on the palate with outstanding concentration and balance, it needs at least 3-4 years of cellaring and will offer a drinking window extending from 2014 to 2023.”  - Jay Miller

To see tasting notes from previous vintages please visit click here.