Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, 2006
From one of Santa Barbara County’s great growing regions. The Rusack 2006 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir captures some of this region’s classic characters of blackberry, dark cherry and smoky aromas, which follow through on the palate. The soft, silky tannins make for an approachable young wine that is also age worthy.

The grapes for the 2006 vintage are almost equally from the Solomon Hills and Garey Vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley. The grapes were de-stemmed upon arrival at the winery in the early hours of the day and then placed into one-ton macro bins for fermentation. Carefully tended, the grape “must” was punched down by hand twice each day to extract flavors and tannins from the skins and manage the fermentation temperature. Upon completion of fermentation, the new wine was placed into French oak barrels, 35% of which were new, for ten months of aging. Bottled without filtration in August of 2007, the wine enjoyed four months of bottle aging before being released. Just 472 cases produced.

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Optimum Storage Conditions: Constant temperature, 55-58° F, darkness.

Aging Potential: To enjoy young fruit aromas, consume within 1-3 years of bottling date. For extended aging under ideal conditions, consume within 3-7 years of bottling date.

Vineyards:
53% Solomon Hills, 47% Garey

Bottle analysis:
Alcohol: 14.1%, pH: 3.49, TA: 0.653g/100ml

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