2003 Pinot Noir, Rio Vista Vineyard

Awards

Wine Enthusiast 84 points.

"Very dark, and rather heavy in texture, this is an earthy wine. The flavors suggest coffee and black cherries."

Production Notes

Pinot Noir clones 667 & 777; 207 cases produced.

Tasting Notes

We have no problem with color in Santa Barbara County Pinot Noirs! The 2003 Rio Vista has glints of ruby and jet in its dark garnet color. The nose is astounding, with lovely hints of candied caramel, coffee, dried blackberries and pepper spice. Delightful notes of smoke, black fruit, red apples, cranberries and cherry pie explode on the palate with layers upon layers of flavors. There is even a reminiscent hint of a good Tequila flavor once in awhile. This is a very full bodied wine with tremendous balance, wonderful texture and great structure. It is still behaving as a young wine, sometimes showy and sometimes reticent so we recommend opening the wine and decanting to allow it to open up more fully. The 2003 Rio Vista has great potential as an age able wine – enjoy now or cellar for 5-8 years. 

Vineyard Notes

Rio Vista Vineyard is the newest addition to the Flying Goat Family. This beautiful vineyard is the most eastern vineyard in Santa Rita Hills, located on the south side of Santa Rosa Road just as you enter the Santa Rita Hills appellation from Highway 101.

Winemaker Notes

In 2003 we had the opportunity to purchase a few tons of Clone 777 and 667 Pinot Noir grapes from this newly developed vineyard. Each of the clones was harvested separately during a somewhat usual growing season. The fruit was delivered to us in impeccable condition – small clusters, picked first thing in the morning and at a perfect ripeness. We de-stemmed the grapes immediately upon arrival at the winery, and then kept each clone separate during fermentation and pressing of the new wine. Then each wine was gravity fed to a combination of new and older French oak barrels to minimize oxygen pick-up, part of our philosophy of minimal handling of the wine. Using old world winemaking methods and minimal intervention the wine was allowed to age to its natural perfection for twelve months. We tasted through the wines each month, and once we determined they had gained just the right amount of flavors from the barrels and integration from aging, the wine was racked using inert gas to push the wine instead of pumping. At this point the clones were blended together to provide balance and complexity. Prior to bottling the wine was lightly filtered to provide a brilliance and remove any lingering sediment.