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2010 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir

After an 8 year absence, I'm thrilled to be making wine again from Bien Nacido. I first set foot in the vineyard in 1999 when I was the winemaker at Testarossa. It was in this vintage that I saw how magical Pinot Noir can be in the Santa Maria Valley, and to this day, that '99 Bien Nacido Pinot we made at Testarossa is still my favorite Pinot I've had a hand in producing.

The 2010 Bien Nacido Pinot comes from a year when we didn't have much of a summer until early September. Temperatures soared up and down the coast, but especially down south. The fruit at Bien Nacido went from seeming like it was a month away from ripening to being ready in less than a week. I would say this is a bigger Pinot than I normally produce, but it still has that Santa Maria spice and charm. Based on my experience with the ageability of Santa Maria Pinots, this 2010 has a long life ahead of it with its dense structure and rather closed state at this young age.

2010 Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir

Another vineyard I worked with starting in 1999 is the Clos Pepe Vineyard. This the the 2nd Sandler Clos Pepe Pinot I've produced, and like the 2009 version, it comes entirely from the Pommard clone of Pinot. I have to give a huge thanks to Wes and Steve of Clos Pepe for allowing me to buy tiny quantities of their fruit. There wasn't enough for Sandler in 2011, but I hope to be back in there for the 2012 harvest.

Similar to how the Bien Nacido ripened quickly during the heatwave of 2010, the Clos Pepe Vineyard also went from a very late veraison to harvest in a little over a month. This 2010 Clos Pepe Pinot is typically large-framed for this vineyard, and it's an entirely different wine from the lighter-bodied '09 Sandler Clos Pepe. With a deep core of ripe fruit and a fairly high tannin level, this 2010 Clos Pepe should rest in the cellar for a few years. It should begin to show well sometime around 2014.

2010 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir

And finally, the only vineyard in the world so far that has budded over a specific block of Pinot Noir for Sandler is the Keefer Ranch. After working with Keefer since 2004 at Freeman, I asked Marcy Keefer if I could purchase some fruit for Sandler in 2008. She knew I was a big fan of the clone 23 Pinot at her vineyard, so she asked if I would like to commit to an acre that she would bud from Dijon 777 to the Swiss clone 23, aka Mariafeld. The answer was yes in less than a second.

The 2010 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir is the first wine I've made entirely from clone 23, since the 2009 had a small amount of 777 blended in. The vintage up north in the Russian River Valley had a similar heatwave in September, but it wasn't as severe as down south. We harvested Keefer on October 8, 2010, a bit later than "normal," however, since 2005, October harvests have become the new normal for coastal California Pinot. This is the most approachable wine of the trio being released now, but as typical for Keefer, it has the highest acidity too. The 2010 Keefer Pinot is quite similar to the 2009 with its lively, fruit character and gentle palate. Although it's drinking beautifully already, it should also cellar well for at least 5 years, probably longer.

The next Sandler release should be in either February or March 2012 and this will include the 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, 2010 Buck Hill Zinfandel, 2010 Connell Vineyard Syrah, and a new wine for Sandler, the 2010 Boer Vineyard Grenache.

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[elliptical reviews]

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