2017 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Estate Grown Carneros

2017 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Estate Grown Carneros

2017 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Estate Grown Carneros Beginning with the nose one encounters bright raspberry and cooked cherry notes along with hints of sassafras and freshly turned earth. Ten months of barrel age lends a sweetness that balances the supple tannin from this exceptional vintage producing an intense full-bodied Pinot Noir. Of particular note in this vintage is the juicy and sweet fruited entry upon the palate backed up by delicate spice notes that lead to a lengthy warming finish. The hallmark of Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir is the texture and this wine delivers with a supple and silky mouth-feel.

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros produces wonderfully unintimidating world-class sparkling wines and still Pinot Noir from certified organic estate vineyards, wines that are unique in their delicate, layered flavors, elegant texture and highly awarded quality. Founded in 1987, Domaine Carneros reflects the hallmark of its founder, Champagne Taittinger, in creating a vision of terroir-driven sparkling wine while preserving the quality tenets of Traditional Method production.

· Founded in 1987 by Champagne Taittinger.
· One of the most visited wineries in USA, more than 200K consumers visit the domaine every year; generating shelf recognition.
· Despite the large chateau, very small production: all wines are hand-crafted in small lots.
· Experience you can taste: Eileen Crane, entering her 39th harvest, personally makes all of the sparkling wines.
· Highest-quality production: estate-grown 100% Carneros fruit, strictly méthode champenoise, extensive aging and ageability.
· Focused on sustainability -vineyards to winery: Certified as a California Sustainable Winegrower, Napa Green Winery and in Fish Friendly Farming.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is the dominant red wine grape of Burgundy, now adopted (and extensively studied) in wine regions all over the world. The variety’s elusive charm has carried it to all manner of vineyards. These extend from western Germany (as Spätburgunder) and northern Italy to Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. California, Oregon and New Zealand are arguably the greatest centers for the grape outside its home territory. However great Pinot Noir is made in all of these territories.

The essence of Pinot Noir wine is its aroma of red berries and cherry (fresh red cherries in lighter wines and stewed black cherries in weightier examples). Many of the more complex examples show hints of forest floor. Well-built Pinot Noirs, particularly from warmer harvests, suggest leather and violets, sometimes recalling Syrah. There are two theories regarding the Pinot name. One is that it came about because their bunches are similar in shape to a pine cone (pinot in French).

It may derive, however, from a place name in France such as Pinos or Pignols from where cuttings were obtained. Pignols in the Auvergne, for example, has cultivated Pinot since the Middle Ages. It was previously believed that Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Précoce (Frühburgunder) et al were members of a “”Pinot Family”” of distinct grape varieties. But DNA profiling has shown them to share the same genetic fingerprint. Thus, they should properly be considered as mutations or clones of a common variety.