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Chalone. The breathtaking Antle Vineyard, located in the Chalone AVA in Monterey County, is 548 metres high in the Gavilan Mountains. It’s an organically farmed, northwest-facing vineyard near the east entrance to the Pinnacles National Park and looks out over Monterey Bay. Planted to a clonal mix of Pinot Noir (Chalone 46, Pommard 4 and Dijon 114), the site’s steep slopes are dense with chalk from an uplifted ancient seabed and decomposing granite.
The winemaking for all three single-vineyard Pinots in this shipment is basically the same. The grapes were hand-picked at night, destemmed and sent to small, open-top steel vessels for natural fermentation. Approximately 40% of the ripest stems are added back and layered through the ferment. The wines were then raised for 12 months in a mixture of older oak casks, from barrique to 500L and 600L demi-muids. They were all bottled without filtration.
We don’t have a review for this wine, so we will rate it ourselves: “A slinky, intensely aromatic mountain Pinot with flavours of candied rose, raspberry fruit and savoury spice backed up by supple tannins and vibrant acidity” 93 points! Being a little more serious, it’s a beautifully poised, long and layered Pinot, hitting its sweet spot. We think it captures the wild beauty of the Chalone highlands.