2013 WEIR VINEYARD Yorkville Highlands

Description

The Vineyard
The Weir Vineyard in the Yorkville Highlands is located on a south facing hillside of rocky gravely soils at an elevation that ranges between 850 and 1000 feet. Cool ocean air funnels up the Anderson Valley to regulate the ripening of the exceptional fruit from this vineyard.

Winemaker Notes
The suggestive 2013 Weir Vineyard Pinot Noir is introduced by red, ruby color. Aromas of red fruit and bramble mix with aromas of violets, crushed dried herbs, leather, and tobacco leaf. Flavors of raspberry, cherry, and cranberry dance with savory notes of smoked meat, sweet pipe tobacco, and black tea. The full expression of this youthful and complex wine seems to hide behind the structure present at this point. Designed to age, but enjoyable now, those who are patient will reap the greatest reward. Drink now or over the next decade.

Vinification
Oak: 100% French oak, 43% new oak, 28.5% once used and 28.5% older
Clones: Rochioli Pommard, 2A, and DRC
Harvest Dates: September 18, 2013
Bottled: August 11, 2014
Alc: 13.9%
Cases Produced: 164

Reviews

• Wine Enthusiast score: 93 Cellar Selection

  This wine hangs muscular cherry and berry flavors on a big framework of firm acidity and taut tannins, ready for a long haul in the cellar or tackling a rich dish like Peking duck now. Light whiffs of spicy oak lead to tangy red cherry, raspberry and cranberry flavors. Best after 2020.

• Wine & Spirits Score: 93

  Bill & Susan Weir planted their first block of Pinot Noir on this remote rocky slope in coastal Mendocino in 1992. It’s a vineyard with no neighbors or exact peers and the best wines from here are pure energy; a buzz of nervous almost unsettled red fruit. In this 2013, winemaker Andrew Berge captures the vineyard at its best, in fruit that sparks with the electricity of red currants and grapefruit flavor and sandy tannins carrying a beetroot-like earthiness. All of the pieces are held in a propulsive tension.

• Connoisseur's Guide Score: 91

  Although not the most powerful or extracted wine on the Spell Pinot roster, this deep and very vital offering gets it right when
  it comes to vigorous, well-defined varietal fruit, and it is arguably the brightest and most refined of the bunch. It is not lacking in presence, yet is comparatively compact with the kind of careful balance and energy that make for optimistic keeping. While not so constrained by its youth that it cannot be enjoyed early on, it is not half as attractive now as it will be some four to six years hence, and we strongly recommend that it be given a chance to grow into its best. Two Puffs.

• Prince of Pinot Score: 90-91

  13.9% alc., 164 cases, $48. Aged in 100% French oak barrels, 43% new, 28.5% once-used and 28.5% older. Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Shy aromas of cherry, wood fern, and pennyroyal. Juicy, with vibrant red fruits framed by muscular tannins. Much better two days after opening when tasted from an re-corked bottle, showing more harmony and less astringency on the finish. Decant or hold for two years.

• Burghound Score: 89

  This resembles the Alder Springs with its elegant array of various red berry fruit scents that are nuanced by hints of spice, lavender and exotic tea. The palate impression is similar as well with its lilting, lively and almost delicate flavors that retain a lovely sense of delineation that also characterizes the dusty, clean and dry-in-the-best-sense finale that some may find a touch austere. I would again suggest cellaring this for a few years first in the hopes that the presently linear finale will further flesh out.

• 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Silver Medal

Techsheet

2013 WEIR VINEYARD Yorkville Highlands (.PDF)

Out of stock