Description
2018 Six Stones Pinot Noir is composed from fruit grown less than five miles apart in the Southwestern portion of the Rogue Valley AVA in Oregon. The “Six Stones” name honors the history of the area and the nearby Siskiyou Mountain Range. In the year 1832, French trappers hopped on “six caillieux” or six stones to cross a river ford on their way to trade with local Native Americans. From this story, the mountain range derived its name, “Sis-ki-you”.
The 2018 vintage was a quality vintage — despite the larger than average crop, berries were small, concentrated and there was ample time for fruit to slowly ripen. We had mild summer weather with filtered sunlight and relatively low heat for the majority of the growing season. A warming trend in September led into our typical harvest date in the end of September. The exceptionally mild autumn extended harvest into the third week of October with no rains to interrupt development and the high elevation and mild summer retained good acidity in the fruit.
The fruit was hand-harvested at night time temperatures, de-stemmed, and fermented whole berry in small open-top fermentation bins. The three-quarter ton bins are gently punched down for the duration of the 10 to 14 day fermentation. Once primary fermentation is complete, the wine is racked to older French oak barrels for 10 months of barrel aging.
Brilliant ruby in hue, the 2018 Six Stones Pinot Noir is red plums and cherry with herbal notes on the nose. It is medium bodied with lively acidity and tart cherry, cranberry, orange peel, barrel spice and char. Excellent with charcuterie.
Average brix at harvest: 23.8
Analysis at bottling: pH 3.53, TA 5.9 g/L, Alcohol 13.7%
3872 cases bottled 9/3 – 9/5/2018
