From its vibrant, alluring color to its rich, floral aromas, lush, dense fruit, and lovely grip, the 2017 vintage of The Loch is a stunning Pinot Noir. Fascinating and eminently age-worthy, it slowly unfurls in gorgeous layers of blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, and floral rose, all underscored by expressive notes of cocoa and barrel toast from aging in the finest French oak.
The grapes were harvested by hand and gently destemmed exclusively into small one-ton fermenters to focus the style of each vineyard and clone. After a three-day cold soak, fermentation began and lasted about three weeks. The wines were then put straight to French oak barrels as free run. After 10 months of aging, we blended to create The Loch. It was aged in fifteen barrels: six new, five one-year-old, and the remaining two-year-old. With another six months in oak The Loch was deemed aged to perfection and was bottled lovingly on February 14th, 2019.
The 2017 growing season was a wet one. We had almost double the historical average of rain, and the vines were lush with a saturated soil profile. The weather was ideal in May during flowering giving a healthy fruit set. The growing season progressed with abundant sunshine and warmth, making the 2017 vintage an early one for Pinot Noir. Most of our Pinot Noir was picked and fermented before the second week of September. We pride ourselves on working with growers who know the land intimately. Vintage after vintage, the partnerships we have with our growers provide us with beautiful fruit. This artful blend was made from our very finest lots of Pinot Noir from a handful of vineyards that span the Sonoma Coast.
Combining decades of winemaking mastery, with our long history on the Sonoma Coast, The Loch is our consummate Pinot Noir blend, artfully crafted from our best blocks and barrels of wine. “Our goal was simple, but not easy,” says Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen. “We searched our cellar for our most beautiful wines of the vintage—stirring wines that sing on the palate. Then we began blending.” Like a secret code unlocked by our winemakers, The Loch embodies everything that we know about making great Pinot Noir. We named our pinnacle Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blends The Loch and The Key, both as a nod to our founder Steve MacRostie’s Scottish heritage and to his early experiences as a U.S. Army cryptographer in Europe.
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