Spring Release MacIntyre Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
2022

Winemaker’s Notes

How does one replicate the incredible quality of 2021? That’s a tough ask! It was selected, after all, as “Wine of the Year” by the world’s most prominent wine critic. The natural answer is to farm the vines at the highest possible, most precise level as the new vine growing season progresses. There’s no recipe here, the grapes vary in style each vintage, just as they should. And so, the fruit is leaner than 2021, the volume a little toned down, the structure less dominant. What we have instead is precision, focus, drive and purity of sandy soil, cool climate Pinot character. There’s a strong sense of tiny grape-berry intensity in this wine. It energizes the palate and fills the mouth with density but remains a middleweight – lithe, tangy, and uniquely coastal in expression – you can’t find this wine style anywhere outside a 12 mile stretch inland of the Pacific Ocean in western Sonoma County.

Great soaring aromatic intensity: tiny red and black tightly wound fruits, minerals, cassis and red apple skin then savory umami characters akin to kelp, iodine, and herbal pine notes. Wild berry fruit drives the tangy palate. There's a lovely herbal, woodsy edge emanating from the vines themselves. As the wine expands, there’s a deep concentrated fruit pastille impression, before driving acidity extends the wine’s lilting echoing finish. Drink between late-2024 and 2030.

Andy Smith