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2021 Pinot Noir - Clone 667/115

red
$60.20
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  • Tasting Notes

  • Winemakers Notes 

  • Technical Details

This wine shows incredible density and purity of fruit. Layers of black and red cherry, pomegranate, and sugar-beets layer over a rocky/stony character very distinct from both the Clone 777 and “Senchuk Vineyard” (all 3 clones) wines.

Nose: Overall, these clones lean into more kirsch, rose-petal, and pink-peppercorn as they show off one small corner of our terroir.

Palate: On the palate, Bing cherries meet rare-peppercorn-steak and iron, followed closely by mulberry, kirsch and fennel seed. The gravelly stoniness is off the charts here, while the forest floor and bramble eventually appear, although much more in the background than on the other Pinots from our property.

Finish: With a final sweep, it remains exceptionally balanced, fully ripe, yet with great freshness and acidity, moderate alcohol and tannic structure for which our vineyard has become known. This wine is loud, energetic, in your face and full of youthful precociousness; it is self-assured, assertive, even a little brash but is also unfailingly polite, and generous like all Canadian wines!

Pairing: The best pairings for Pinot Noir include grilled salmon, roasted chicken, mushroom risotto, and dark chocolate.

The Pinot “Clone Wars” continue! This time with Clones 667 & 115. Our estate Senchuk Vineyard contains only 2 short rows of Clone 115, and 4 short rows of Clone 667, planted on the shallowest top soil. With such a small yield, it isn’t practical to ferment these clones separately, but we always keep them from the Clone 777 until we blend our top “Senchuk Vineyard” Pinot Noir after barrel aging. Going through barrels from 2021, we found these 2 amazing barrels that show the essence of 667 & 115 Pinot Noir. So, we bottled it as a separate wine! 2021 was no doubt a tricky vintage, with a lot of humidity and rain throughout the season. However, our magic little bit of Niagara here in Winona got through amazingly well. The clouds parted, the rain was swept away, and we had a beautiful run of weather exactly when our vineyard was ripening. The result was perfect, fully ripe Pinot Noir that was picked on September 30th, with almost identical numbers, flavours and weight to previous vintages. A true miracle! (backed up by some crazy hard work)

Hand-picked and hand-sorted on September 30th , the grapes were partly de-stemmed (75% destemmed, 25% whole-cluster), partially crushed and left to soak on skins prior to fermentation. After 3 days, fermentation occurred spontaneously in concrete fermenters. During fermentation, the skins were punched-down by hand 2 times per day. Once fermentation was finished, the wine remained on skins for 5 days before being gently pressed. It was then transferred to French oak barrels and aged for 18 months. These 2 (neutral) barrels 667 & 115 Pinot were bottled on August 24, 2023.

Vintage: 2021

Vineyard: Senchuk Vineyard – 67% Clone 667; 33% Clone 115

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Appellation: Lincoln Lakeshore

Total Production: 45 cases

Average Brix at Harvest: 22.9

Acidity: 6.1 g/L

pH: 3.68

Alcohol: 13.0%

Residual Sugar: 2g/L

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