A New Special Blend – Holmes Ranch Pinot
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Holmes Ranch Pinot
photo by Jamey Thomas
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This shipment contains a new Pinot Noir blend, our 2006 Pinot Noir, Holmes Ranch. I don’t make special blends unless I think they taste particularly good and are distinctive. I think this wine is exceptional.
The name comes from the Holmes Ranch subdivision, where the three vineyards highlighted in this blend are located. They include the Handley Estate Vineyard, the Romani Family Vineyard about a quarter mile behind the winery, and my home vineyard, RSM, on the ridge north-east of the winery. These “deep end” vineyards are in the coolest part of Anderson Valley, usually the 1st to receive the foggy afternoon coastal breezes, and they tend to produce wines with red and blue fruit, spice, and concentration.
Every spring, we start tasting individual Pinot Noir lots to decide which lots, vineyards, or blocks will go into either our Anderson Valley or our Mendocino County Pinot. Some years we produce an Estate pinot or a vineyard designate from my home, RSM, vineyard. In 2006 we did not feel either the estate or my home vineyard should stand alone, but when we started doing our blending trials we discovered that the addition of the Romani Vineyard made a wonderful wine. We knew that the three Holmes Ranch vineyards had turned out exceptional wines in the past so when we started putting our blends together and experimented with combining them, we found the resulting blend’s concentration, structure, and focus clearly expressed its’ cool climate roots.
If you were able to come to Handley’s Cellar Club BBQ you got an early taste of this wine and know that, although it is still young, it has incredible brightness and concentration. I, along with my whole winemaking staff, am proud of this new offering, and I hope you enjoy it.
Milla
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