2018 Day Ranch

90 Points: Josh Greene Wine & Spirits - April 2021

"Delicious, compelling; a compelling wine of its region; a delicious, finessed expression of place. “A delicate richness pervades this floral pinot, its strawberry-blossom scents and transparent strawberry flavors rounded by oak. An earthy, celery-root bitterness lasts with the fruit, inciting an appetite for halibut braised with shiitake mushrooms.”

90 Points: Jim Gordon Wine Enthusiast - June/July 2021

Excellent; highly recommended “This full-bodied wine offers fresh strawberry aromas, nicely concentrated and ripe black-cherry flavors and a good, slightly tannic texture that keeps coming back for more. Good balance and a nice vibrance help it stand out.”

The 2018 growing season began with warm winter weather before things turned cool and rainy in February, which prevented an early bud break. While the rains continued, things warmed up again in March, providing ideal nutrients and growing conditions for the vines. From June onwards the weather was lovely and temperate, with sunny days and cool nights ensuring excellent flavor development and acid retention in the grapes. As harvest drew near, the weather turned warm providing a final push to ripeness. Day Ranch Vineyard is planted to Clone 667, and we harvested our fruit on September 24th, 2018.

To make this wine, our love of exploration took us to another acclaimed coastal Northern California wine region, Mendocino County’s renowned Anderson Valley. Located just 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, in the cool “Deep End” of the Anderson Valley, Day Ranch is planted on an alluvial terrace that abuts a mountainside. This wild, rustic terroir yields a complex and distinctive expression of Pinot Noir.

• composition:

  100% Pinot Noir

• alcohol: 14.30%
• cases made:

  9 Barrels
  196 Cases

• bottling date: 07/26/2019
• aging:

  Aged 10 months in French oak, 22% new, 22% one-year-old

• fermentation:

  Gently destemmed into open-top fermenters; three-day cold soak; cap management included pump-overs & punch-downs