Country: USA Region: Sonoma County Varietal: Pinot Noir Vintage: 2017 Colour: Red Style: Dry Producer: Paul Hobbs Producer Profile Raised on a farm on the east coast of the United States, Paul Hobbs grew up in a tee-total household but this did not stop his first taste of wine being Chateau Y'quem. It is tempting to say 'and the rest is history' and leave it at that, but there is so much more to this man. Paul came to winemaking via studying to be a doctor and this scientific background and attention to detail has helped hone his approach to crafting wonderfully precise, complex wines in California, and around the world. He has famously been called the 'Steve Jobs' of wine by Forbes magazine and it is clear he is a driven perfectionist whose hard work has paid off with numerous 100 points scores from the critics. However, to stop there would do Paul an injustice. Notwithstanding his mainstream winemaking training at USC Davis, Paul has been a long advocate of low intervention methods. Viticulture Pinot Noir is grown across various sites and exposures - sandy clay loam, red clay and coarse, gravelly loam soils. Yields are 0.9 to 4.5 tonnes per acre. Winemaking Hand‐harvested grapes fermented in small, open‐top stainless steel fermenters with indigenous yeasts with a 5 day cold soak, 16 day average total maceration, and 9% whole cluster inclusion. Direct to press; Spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrels, aged for around 10 months in small French oak barrels; and around 43% new oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.   Tasting Note This wine displays a crimson hue and aromas of violet, Earl grey tea, and baked sour cherry. The velvet texture on the palate combines with flavours of Damson plum, red clay, and orange peel that ends with fresh acidity that lifts the palate, lengthening the wine’s finish. Food Matching Serve with fish as salmon, tuna or monkfish or white meats with creamy sauce.