About Fogarty
Few wine regions on earth can match Santa Cruz Mountains’ climates, soils and vertigo-inspiring views. Set high in the mountains overlooking California’s Silicon Valley, the Thomas Fogarty winery has been making single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet from the SCM appellation since 1981. Fogarty’s two estates are divided into micro-vineyards, ranging from .25 to 5.25 acres, based on soil and topography. All are maritime (12-18 miles to Pacific), cool-climate (Regions I and II), high-elevation (1600-2300 feet), low yielding (1-3 tons per acre) and mountainous. The winery was founded by Dr. Thomas Fogarty, a Stanford cardiovascular surgeon and world-renowned inventor.

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
Gist Ranch is our newest Estate site in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It lies 14 miles southeast of the winery on a breathtaking ridge at 2200 feet above sea level. We planted a small hillside to Italian clones of Pinot Gris on low-vigor rootstock. The soils consist of fractured sandstone and shale and the site is one of the coolest on the property .This combination yields wines that are transparent and reflective of their mountainous and maritime conditions.

Winemaking
We gently whole-cluster pressed the fruit to a small stainless-steel tank for fermentation, which took place with indigenous yeast. The fermentation was long and slow, allowing for the development of complexity in the finished wine. After fermentation the wine was racked off its lees for bottling in January.

Tasting Notes
This is true mountain Pinot Gris, steely and bright with tons of minerality. With crystalline fruit, crunchy texture and a refreshing finish- this wine is tailor-made for summer sipping: this is a highly unique and striking wine. Limited in production and supremely enjoyable, this is a wine to drink early and often.

TECHNICAL DATA:

APPELATION
Santa Cruz Mountains

VINEYARD
100% Gist Ranch Estate Vineyard

WINEMAKING TEAM
Michael Martella and Nathan Kandler

Finished alcohol: 12.8% ABV
Acid/pH: .84/3.35
Total production: 33 cases
California suggested retail: $24.00