DECEMBER RELEASE NEWSLETTER 2024

Introducing the 2019 Vintage Release, The Apogee from Soliste

 Triptych of 2019 Single Barrel MonoClone^® Pinot Noirs

Single Vineyard, Single Clone, ONE Barrel...Soliste

 L'Ermite Rouge – Rarissime – Extravagant

2018 Was a Benchmark Growing Season. Until 2019.

We characterized the 2018 growing season as "near-perfect." It was a welcome break from drought, fire, and unpredictability. 2019 started with record-breaking rains in February and, over the season, up to 51 inches of groundwater replenishing precipitation. The vines properly rested thanks to persistent cold, wet conditions over winter. Bud-break was slightly delayed, helping to avoid early Spring frosts. A bit of late May rain caused minor shatter. August was largely fog-free, and an overall warmer growing season in comparison to the previous year. Harvest timing was unhurried, promoting more uniform flavor development and stem lignification essential for whole cluster vinification. We carefully monitored flavor development and acids, and as is our practice, used multiple picks to select specific blocks as they matured. Two near-perfect growing seasons...Sacre Bleu. 

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Single Barrel Wines - Our Best of the Best

We sat down to taste our latest 2019 Vintage with great expectations. Three wines stood out immediately, and they were all Single Barrel MonoClone Pinot Noirs. In the history of Soliste, there have not been wines that have reached the highest degree of excellence of Cote De Nuits. These Three Pinot Noirs are simply stunning in all aspects: Nose, Aroma, Complexity, Fruit Concentration and Purity, Balance, Exotic, Sensual, Texture, and Length. This is clearly the result of the adjustments made over many, many vintages, precise barrel choice, and our commitment to Burgundian ancestral methods. It is an extremely rare moment to be experiencing such bliss in a glass, especially with the uncontrollable adversity of the effects of climate change. One can wait a lifetime, aspiring to one day, and after decades of vintages, one wine will stand out and give us what we always dreamt of…A Unicorn, and now they are Three. Is it the 2019 Vintage, is it the accumulation of knowledge, the barrel selection, or simply the slow and tedious journey during which our commitment and passion were unwavering?  

Each of these three wines epitomized why we love Pinot Noir. Of all the cépages, it is the most complex, exotic, cerebral, and enigmatic. And at times, perhaps showing its French roots, can be very frustrating and challenging. This is why we are both infatuated with and passionate about Pinot Noir, and why we care so deeply about our mission to craft the very best wines year after year. Selecting just one took much debate – and more than a glass or two. Suddenly, Claude announced, “These are so incroyable, instead of waiting and releasing them one at a time, let's showcase them together, and at once!” Sometimes the best decision is no decision at all. 

For these three stellar wines, my tasting notes will be more detailed as I tasted them over 4 days to experience their evolution and truly appreciate the metamorphosis and the depth they attained. This singular vintage represents all that Pinot Noir can achieve. 2019 has granted us precision, depth, exotic aromatics, and endless length to craft and select ONE barrel of three distinctive and singular Pinots from specific sites, terroir, and MonoClone. Each is aged for 18 months in a single barrel. The rewards are Pinot Noir’s intoxicating nose, powerful yet refined with layers of pure fruit density, spice, sous-bois, truffles, infinite length, and complex finish.  
 

These three One Barrel MonoClone wines are so uniquely different that we simply could not resist but to do ONE release for you to experience their individual character – Vive la différence! 

L’ERMITE ROUGE 2019…The Hedonist, and Etheral Pinot

2019 L'ERMITE ROUGE MonoClone Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Tasting Notes 

Le Regard / The Look
Deep Ruby and Garnet robe, crystalline gem brilliance with visible weight and texture supported by the 100% whole cluster press. Youthful vibrancy indicates great aging potential.

Le Nez / The Nose
The nose is intoxicating and exotic, showing graphite minerality, dusty rose petals, and violets, slightly muted at first compared to Rarissime. After a couple of swirls, the aromas are no longer shy: caramelized dark cherries, boysenberry, and red plums, interlaced with savory dry herbal tones, black pepper, pine needles, and violets. As the wine opens in the glass or decanter, the aromatics become more complex and earthy with cassis and plum compote scents spiked with leather, dried mushrooms, cedar, espresso, and cardamom. Superbly exotic in spice and floral tones, accented with graphite minerality.

Degustation / The Taste
The front palate delivers great energy of tart Montmorency cherries, raspberries, and lingonberries, with layers of exotic spices, violets, and licorice. This is a wine of deep character, very chiseled and linear, with a high pitch upper palate, very racy and fresh but with palpable fruit density. The second taste is pure raspberry liquor, boysenberry compote, and caramelized strawberry rhubarb gelee. The red fruits are harmoniously elevated with dried maple leaves, high floral tones, Kirsch, anise, violets, cedar wood, and a touch of leather, stemming from the 100% whole cluster press. The mid-palate is of bright fruit intensity and verve, almost raspy but dense with red fruits, layered with musty sous-bois, truffles, peppery plums, tea must, pine needles, and dry herbal aromatics, all in superb balance. The finish is all about elegance and a silky length that is elevated by tannin acidity, giving the wine energy and lift. The long Ermitage Cigar barrel aging polished the tannins from the whole clusters but left all the complexity and exotic vibrancy intact, creating a magical wine full of verve, grace, and length. Decanting is highly recommended. L’ Ermite Rouge just like the shy Hermit that is a recluse in his monastery once revealed will surprise as a most dynamic and complex wine, harnessing the knowledge of decades passed to create this Etheral Pinot…Soliste
 

2019 RARISSIME...Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove-Richebourg West

2019 RARISSIME MonoClone Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Tasting Notes 

Le Regard / The Look
Deep intense Ruby gemlike clarity in the glass with violet tinges and dense texture from the whole cluster press.

Le Nez / The Nose
The exceptional bouquet is musty and earthy, precise, and complex. As the wine unfurls, Rose petals, stacked with peppery plums, raspberries, and figs, emanate from the glass. As the wine evolves in the glass or decanter, the aromatics become richer and more voluptuous with dark cherry, blackberry, and plum compote layered with floral notes of violets. Secondary aromas of cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon are spiked with tea must, leather, game, and cedar. Superbly elegant, floral, intoxicating.

Degustation / The Taste
The front palate is full-bodied and incredibly silky, velvety to perfection. The wine delivers a paradox of pure fruit concentration and creamy texture with layers of dark and red cherries, blackberries, Cassis, plums, violets, exotic spice, and black tea. Great layers of complexity emerge with the second taste, generous and expansive, reflecting the class and pedigree of the vineyard, with bitter caramel Raspberry compote, spiced plums spiked with black pepper, cocoa nibs, and citrus oil. The mid-palate is unctuous at first, then accentuated with musty sous-bois, truffles, sweet spices, and dried maple leaves, elevated by a deep but smooth tannin from the 100% whole cluster press. The wine has been aged in the famed Cigar-shaped barrel, which has tamed the 100% Whole cluster press into a Zen-like harmony, preserving all the spices and verve without the aggressivity of the tannins. The generous fruits and soft tannins balance each other to accentuate the vibrant acidity from the whole cluster press, which provides structure and an impeccable balance. The finish is incredibly long and sensual, with persistent fruit and mineral notes lingering on the palate, suggesting great aging potential.

Rarissime 2019 is a stunning wine to be compared to a Grand Cru, like Richebourg, demonstrating the depth, complexity, and elegance that this vineyard is known for, with a Clone whose origins are from Vosne. An Iron Fist in a velvet glove...The Pinot Noir Paradox. Soliste

EXTRAVAGANT 2019…The Aristocrate

2019 EXTRAVAGANT MonoClone Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Tasting Notes 

Le Regard / The Look
Deep and dense amethyst and garnet luminosity showing concentration and structure, long legs, thick texture from the whole cluster press. The wine shows intensity while still reflecting elegance.

Le Nez / The Nose
The front nose is expressive and lively. The first whiff is musty, then sappy (redwood pine needles), and last, earthy. As the wine opens up, aromas of black cherries, raspberries, and cassis are layered with Sous-Bois (forest floor underbrush), dried mushrooms, and a potpourri of rose petals and violets. As the wine evolves in the glass or decanter, the aromatics become voluptuous and sweeter with raspberry liquor aromatics, Kirsch, spiked with star anise, burnt orange rind, and cardamom. Superbly elegant and powerful, the back nose has layers of exotic spices, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and a touch of vanilla.

Degustation / The Taste
On the front palate, the wine is full-bodied with micro tannins lifting the wine in the secondary palate, providing structure and a firm backbone yet remaining smooth and well-integrated, offering a totally spherical wine that has no beginning and no end. The second taste coats your mouth with the impressive essence of dried herbs and dark fruit density, a concentration of dark cherries, blackberries, and blueberries accented with bitter caramel, tobacco, licorice, leather, and fennel tops. This is a pinot for the purist that will discover a wine that hits all the high pitch notes, from fruit to spices, to minerality and to whole cluster tannins.. The mid-palate reveals the wine’s broad shoulders and floral character, which elevate the texture of the tannins, creating a perfect harmony between the density of the fruit and mineral undertone, dead foliage leaves, and game mushrooms, creating an autumnal backbone. The palate is tensile, intense, focused, and underpinned by filigree soft wood tannins that lend it magnificent sophistication and length. With the explosively long and very firmly structured finish, this densely packed wine spreads out horizontally on the inexorable rising finish, saturating the palate with a fine dusting of tart fruit acidity, spice, and shimmering minerality.

Extravagant…A Wine of great nobility. Clos de Beze West…

Because of the devastating event of the 1860 Phylloxera that destroyed the vineyards of Europe (read more about Pinot Noir Clones and how they survived)

Our December Release - The Apogee from Soliste 

To close 2024 on a positive note, Don and I want to share this exclusive and limited set of our One Barrel MonoClone Pinot Noirs to allow you to experience the distinct clonal differences and precise vinification of the Phenomenal 2019 vintage. Each of these Pinot Noirs has been selected as a standout ONE BARREL from our Monoclone Single Vineyard, Single Clone Pinot Noir from Single. They are indeed the Best of the Best.