2017 Knudsen Vineyards Reserve Pinot noir
A regal Pinot, showcasing a brilliant dark ruby red color. Deep, ripe aromas of black cherry, raspberry and red plum skin are framed by warm spices of clove, star anise, cardamom, and a perfumed red blossom character. This wine has a ripeness and density to it that proves its pedigree with a full body and silky, mouth-filling texture. Hold onto it if you can, but it’s already too delicious for its own good—even at this youthful stage. It’s incredibly balanced with a long, satisfying, sink-into-your-armchair finish.
70 | 59.5 Club
Appellation Dundee Hills
Alcohol 14.2%
Soil Jory
Brix 24
Oak French, 35%, 16 mos.
pH 3.58
TA 5.4
Cases 200
We produced this Reserve Pinot noir with grapes from four dispersed vineyard blocks offering mildly darker red fruit aroma and flavors – cherry, plum, a hint of rhubarb – combined with a subtle earthiness, resulting in a wine of considerable complexity and richness. The foundation of the 2017 Reserve is sourced from the 18-year old vines in Block 3, the “heart” of the northern of our two slopes, planted in French Dijon clone 667, combined with wine from younger vines of Dijon Clone 4407 in Block 4. This is the first time we have blended with this clone and expect it will become a staple ingredient of our top Pinots. This wine is further livened with a blend of deeply aromatic fruit from Block 6, planted in 2004 with French Dijon clone 777, and also fruit from Block 8, a heritage Pommard clone planted in 2008, offering hints of dried mushroom, some spiciness and a velvety texture. The wine was aged 16 months in 35% new oak barrels prior to bottling. This is a beautiful complex, textured and elegant wine which will age well for 10 – 15 years.
A relatively cool and wet spring resulted in a near-normal bud break in mid-April. The spring warmed up with record heat in late May that initiated flowering, followed by a cool down in early June through the second and third week of the month. Flowering produced a very good fruit set generally with more clusters per vine and larger clusters than previous years. July ramped up the heat moving the vintage rapidly to veraison. August saw multiple one-day records for maximum daytime temperatures with heat stress events early and late in the month resulting in one of the warmest on record. A warm early September accelerated fruit development but was slowed by a cooling period mid-month, leading to a relatively slow and steady harvest. 2017 ended up with near average to slightly higher than average sugar and acid levels with beautiful flavors and well-balanced fruit.