Fall Release Flax Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
2018

Winemaker’s Notes

Our second bottling of Flax Estate Pinot Noir benefits from the greater intimacy we achieved farming this special vineyard for a second season. We’re starting to discover the many nuances of the site, what makes it tick. This location along Westside Road in the northern “Middle Reach” district of the appellation is the original home of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, the area that made the appellation world-famous more than 40 years ago. With a stellar vintage like 2018, we were dealt a winning hand that can be tasted in this simply magical wine.

The style of this wine is completely different from that of the coastal Green Valley district, wholly driven by the natural characteristics of this highly coveted hillside parcel overlooking the Russian River. The convergence of deep, iron-rich volcanic loam soils, the gentle cooling influence of river fog and a local specialty Pommard clone produces a wine with savory aromatic complexity, lower acidity counterbalanced by more enveloping tannins, and fruit that is deep and broad rather than vibrant and coastal.

The wine’s ultra-complex aromas fill the senses with notes of black cherry, redcurrant, bay laurel and tobacco leaf. Its earthy, autumnal character is immediately inviting and charming as a whiff of peat moss and crushed stone lend detail. The palate is deep and concentrated with obvious muscle and density that never surrender elegance, freshness or poise. The velvety, layered texture gradually builds and fans out to a slatey mineral finish. This grand-scale wine will live a long time in your cellar. Drink between mid 2021 and 2030. Bottled unfiltered.

Andy Smith