2005 Taz Pinot Noir, Fiddlestix Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills

"The Fiddlestix Vineyard continues to amaze me. It is a 96-acre patchwork of 33 blocks of Pinot Noir, featuring a selection of six clones, five rootstocks and soils ranging from rocky clay loams on the slopes to more sandy and silt loams in the flats. Each year the vineyard seems to magically ripen in a perfect pattern, first the flats and then the hills. As it ages, Fiddlestix continues to reveal itself in new ways and there is still much to discover. The 2005 growing season was ideal, starting with an early budbreak in February. Moderate temperatures in September allowed us to pick at a nice, leisurely pace and ensured that all of the fruit was harvested at optimal ripeness. The grapes were hand-sorted in the field and brought into the winery as individual lots to be fermented separately in small open-top fermenters. Each lot was aged separately for 12 months in French oak barrels (50% new) and assembled to create a balanced, expressive whole. The 2005 Fiddlestix Pinot Noir is powerful and lush with notable complexity and structure. I find that this wine has layered aromatics that reveal themselves slowly in the glass, opening to aromas of dark plum and black cherry with a hint of earthiness and cedar." -- Natasha Boffman, Winemaker

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