2018 Scott Family Estate Pinot Noir Dijon Clone
2018 Scott Family Estate Chardonnay Dijon Clone A sweet sage and cherry bouquet with notes of toasted oak and dark roasted coffee, with subtle flavors of dried cherry, vanilla, berries and fresh rosemary. Crisp acidity is balanced with robust tannins for a mouth-filling texture and long, luxurious finish.
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is the dominant red wine grape of Burgundy, now adopted (and extensively studied) in wine regions all over the world. The variety’s elusive charm has carried it to all manner of vineyards.
These extend from western Germany (as Spätburgunder) and northern Italy to Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. California, Oregon and New Zealand are arguably the greatest centers for the grape outside its home territory. However great Pinot Noir is made in all of these territories.
The essence of Pinot Noir wine is its aroma of red berries and cherry (fresh red cherries in lighter wines and stewed black cherries in weightier examples). Many of the more complex examples show hints of forest floor. Well-built Pinot Noirs, particularly from warmer harvests, suggest leather and violets, sometimes recalling Syrah.
There are two theories regarding the Pinot name. One is that it came about because their bunches are similar in shape to a pine cone (pinot in French).
It may derive, however, from a place name in France such as Pinos or Pignols from where cuttings were obtained. Pignols in the Auvergne, for example, has cultivated Pinot since the Middle Ages.
It was previously believed that Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Précoce (Frühburgunder) et al were members of a “Pinot Family” of distinct grape varieties. But DNA profiling has shown them to share the same genetic fingerprint. Thus, they should properly be considered as mutations or clones of a common variety.
Arroyo Seco is an AVA in the middle of the Salinas Valley in Monterey County, California. Its cool climate means it is blessed with one of the longest growing seasons in California, making it well suited to the production of premium wines made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Arroyo Seco wines are highly respected by critics but not well known by consumers.
The Arroyo Seco River, an eastward-flowing tributary of the larger Salinas River, cuts a narrow gorge into the Santa Lucia mountains just southwest of the town of Greenfield. The AVA covers a long, thin sliver of land inside the gorge starting roughly around the settlement of Sycamore Flat and running due east before fanning out in the flat valley floor to take in the area around Greenfield and stretching out towards Soledad, nine miles (14km) northwest.