Winemaking
We have been tirelessly refining the winemaking practices for our SCM Pinot Noir. This vintage highlights our efforts and is representative of our balanced and complex style of Pinot Noir. We ferment all of our Pinot Noir in small lots, ranging from .5-3 tons. We utilize between 25-50% whole clusters and ferment the wines without the addition of yeast. Our maceration period lasts from 14-21 days, including a 3-7 day cold soak. We separate the press fraction at the press, this allows us to decide on its inclusion at a later date. We age our Pinot Noir in 3 year air dried French Oak from the forests of Bertranges, Allier and Troncais, of which 30% were new. Our Santa Cruz Mountains bottling was bottled after 10 months in barrel.

Vintage
2008 was a fascinating and high quality vintage. We harvested fruit in hurried spurts, punctuated by relative calm- interval harvesting if you will! There were effectively three harvest phases, all with fairly unique weather surrounding each period. Quality was good to great with the later harvested fruit being some of the best we have seen in recent memory; featuring great character and balance.

Vineyards
We sourced Pinot Noir from 7 vineyards from four distinct regions for our 2008 SCM Pinot Noir: our Estate Vineyard high upon Skyline Blvd, coastal Corralitos, the rugged Saratoga/Los Gatos area and the Summit Rd area, some of the highest elevations in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Each vineyard has its own signature identity; this blend harmonizes and intensifies the regional Santa Cruz Mountain character.

Tasting Notes
A very strong showing for the 2008 vintage, our Santa Cruz Mountains bottling is complex and balanced with great character. Forest floor and spice notes accent pure cranberry and red plum fruit on the nose. There is a great yin and yang between the structure of the tannins and the suave middle- the spice seems to drive the structure, while the fruit powers the mid-palate. The finish is quite long with a hint of barrel spice. This wine is drinking well in its youth, but should age effortlessly for 5-7 years.

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