2013 Renaissance Pinot Noir
SOLISTE…THE NEXT CHAPTER
Introducing the Magnificent 2013 Vintage
Exceptional in every way…A Tour de Force!
In 2005, we made our first Pinot Noir from the family vineyard (only 136 cases produced, that’s it!) located in a unique site that we believed would grant us the ability to craft wines with a style that would satisfy our infatuation for the great Burgundies that we love. In 2009, from the same site, we challenged ourselves to make our Pinot Noirs from single vineyard, single clone, and allocate a single cooperage barrel house in France to deliver uncompromised focus to each wine. The MonoClone® was born and we registered the trademark to protect our beliefs.
Having said that, we did not become stubborn about the MonoClone or infatuated by the idea, the wines had to deliver. If they did not, we would have gone back to blending the clones. Our MonoClone focus has produced spectacular wines, and so here we are, 8 years later with the 2013 harvest and Renaissance.
The 2013 vintage had what we thought was an ideal growing season for Pinot Noir, if there is such a thing. Since 2005, mother nature has thrown the kitchen sink at us, years of drought, fires, rain at the wrong time when it finally came, heat spikes days before harvest, red blotch, years with minuscule yields, to name a few. So when 2013 came, and it seems that week after week the weather was finally on our side, we did not want to jinx it, especially Don, and we kept thinking that we are going to pay at some point and that some cataclysmic evil forces were going to awaken and deliver another blow…it did not, Darth Vader did not show up.
RENAISSANCE
We embraced the opportunity and felt that from that original vineyard, we would identify a few rows that would allow us to craft a deeper wine, pressing 50% whole cluster to create more layers without losing what makes Soliste: Elegance.
2013 RENAISSANCE Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
Tasting Notes
Le Regard / The Look
Scintillating deep luminosity of blackberry and dark cherry reflecting density and structure, with pure amethyst gem brilliance.
Le Nez / The Nose
Expressive nose of mature fruit (dark cherries, blackberries and stewed plums), violets, exotic spices with a touch of musty sous-bois (forest floor). As the wine opens up, ethereal aromas envelop your senses with a compote of dark wild cherries spiked with bacon fat, anise and floral notes. The nose keeps developing scents of exotic woods, vanilla fat, espresso grounds, and dusty rose petals, completing a most sensual experience. This as close as an emulation to an aged Grand Cru Burgundy. A clear reflection of the 2013 vintage.
Degustation / The Taste
The first taste is remarkable. It is like the wine has been aged for 10 years but the fruit concentration and aromatic are bright, vibrant and fresh, a paradox! The layers are so incredibly silk woven, nothing comes apart. Like a fine tapestry, one has to step back to see the scene come alive as the threads are too seamlessly stitched to appreciate with the naked eye.
Exotic concentration of spiced plums and caramelized wild cherries, laced with violets, coriander, anise, and vanilla fat. The mid-palate has voluptuous weight, almost fatty, with generous layers of blackberry and black fig gastrique (think of a 25 year-old balsamico). As the wine breathes in the glass, savory layers of roast meat drippings, peppery bacon, dried herbal tones elevate the fruit's complexity. The wine shows all qualities of an aged Burgundy, exotic, earthy, complex, refined, with a sumptuous silky texture of micro tannins.
The long finish shows a wine of great depth and concentration, with an elegant, silky mouthfeel that lingers and lingers with expressive notes of toasted sandalwood, cocoa nibs and cardamom weaved with tart plums and cherries...LEGENDARY.