2022 Nightwing Vineyard

91 Points: Audrey Frick JebDunnuck.com - June 28, 2024

“Youthful ruby in hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Nightwing Vineyard is spicy with aromas of preserved spiced cranberries, pine, forest herbs, and dried roses. Medium-bodied, refreshing, and approachable, it offers even, ripe acidity, fine tannins, and a clean, mouthwatering finish. It’s a very charming wine with an open drinking window over the next 4-5 years.”

The 2022 vintage was impacted by a third consecutive year of drought that resulted in a reduction in yields from 10-30%. The growing season was temperate, which in grape growing means we were on track, or ahead of normal growth. Then we saw some heat spikes that prompted our first picks. 2022 was a year for vintage-to-vintage variation and differentiation between vineyards. Nightwing is planted to many small blocks, each with unique topography and soil type, thus different clones. The clones for this wine are approximately 1/3 Clone 667, 1/3 777, and 1/3 115, all of which were hand-harvest on August 24th and 25th of 2022.

This is the second vintage of Pinot Noir produced from our Nightwing Estate Vineyard. Nightwing was planted in 2018 and is named after the indigenous nocturnal birds that keep a watchful eye on the land. The name is also a nod to the original guardian of the property, Vernon Morelli, a former WWII pilot who built a landing strip amid the vineyard. Located in the acclaimed Petaluma Gap AVA, Nightwing Vineyard is perched at 1,200 feet above sea level, where it basks in cool ocean winds and long, sunny days.

• composition:

  100% Pinot Noir

• alcohol: 13.5%
• bottling date: 08/03/2023
• aging:

  Aged 10 months in French oak, 35% new, 31% once-filled

• fermentation:

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