Saint Georges Pinot Noir Old Vines, Birichino 2019

The 2019 St Georges derives primarily from the elegant, floral, very small-berried pinot from three decades-old blocks farmed by George Besson off the eastern flank of Santa Cruz Mountains. This small corner of the Santa Clara Valley manifests in the red wines produced there by the scent of botanical extracts, mountain herbs, and cherry liqueur. To its register of expansive red floral notes we add the muscular, brooding, deeply-flavored old selections of pinot from a vineyard planted 1800’ up in the Chalone AVA, and just over the Gabilan Mountains at an old limestone and active granite quarry in the remote Lime Kiln Valley. These sites together bring exceptionally textured depth and lifted aromatics to this dynamic Central Coast bottling. Fermentation averaged about 35% whole cluster, with a higher proportion of the Chalone and Lime Kiln Valley lots left whole, and after several days in stainless and bins, the mysterious and prismatic aspect of wild yeast fermentation got going, and we put a preliminary blend down to neutral barrel in October. We racked just once when final barrel selections were made. Elevage was just shy of 1 year in quite old barriques before we bottled, unfined and unfiltered, in early Fall of the following vintage. -Alex and John