The best of Santa Lucia Highlands in 2006.
St. Vincent is the patron saint of Burgundy. On our trip to Burgundy seven years ago, we encountered one local tradition that helps make Burgundy so unique. Each year, a group of growers and winemakers called the Chevalier du Tastevin honor one of their senior members by giving them a small wooden statue of St. Vincent to hold for one year as a good luck talisman for their harvest. The 2006 vintage was certainly more Burgundian than any we have been part of making during our ten years in the Santa Lucia Highlands. So, recollecting our trip, Cuvee St. Vincent seemed to be a fitting name for this wine.
The 2006 'Cuvee St. Vincent' Pinot Noir presents broad aromas of fresh cherries and strawberries, accompanied by notes of licorice and vanillin. The wine is quite gracious and supple at the front, from the Paraiso Vineyard (12%) and Tondre Grapefield (7%) fruit. It then demonstrates a more compact, age-worthy structure through the middle and to the finish due to the large portion of Rosella’s Vineyard (72%) and Fairview Ranch (9%).
Harvested September 24th – October 5th, 2006
24.7 brix (average) at harvest
70% Rosella's Vineyard, 15% Paraiso Vineyard, 8% Tondre Grapefield, 7% Fairview Vineyard
