DiPalermo Mount Carmel Pinot Noir 2020 Red Wine

DiPalermo Mt. Carmel Pinot Noir 2020 

Sta. Rita Hills AVA, CA

95 pts. Jeb Dunnuck:

"Lastly, the 2020 Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel (20% stems and 50% new oak) reveals a ruby hue as well as a rich, powerful style in its ripe red and black fruits as well as notes of spicy wood, forest floor, baking spices, and scorched earth-like aromas and flavors. Pure, precise, and focused on the palate, it's an incredibly complex, layered, satisfying Pinot Noir that can be drunk any time over the coming decade.

Winemaker Zac Wasserman is one to watch and continues to make brilliant wines under both his DiPalermo and Frequency labels. DiPalermo focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills." - 8/2022

94 pts. Vinous:

"The 2020 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard is rich, dense and explosive. A Pinot of unreal concentration, the 2020 possesses tremendous depth and virile intensity. Black cherry, plum, menthol, licorice, rose petal and lavender are all dialed up. All of the wildness and saline nuance of this rugged hillside site come through loud and clear."

The Mount Carmel vineyard is one of the oldest in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Planted in 1989, it sits smack-dab in the middle of the AVA. DiPalermo has done a great job with it, creating a wine with a lovely, unique, floral nose, layers and layers of fruit and earthy flavors, all in superb balance. What a fabulous Pinot! And it’s organic to boot! - Wine Factor

FROM THE WINERY

Nestled in the heart of Sta. Rita Hills AVA – Mt Carmel Vineyard is the crown jewel of sites for pinot noir in Santa Barbara County. Perched above the Santa Ynez River, Mt Carmel is in direct connection to the cool on shore influence of the Pacific Ocean. A gradual south facing slope offers ample sun exposure and rich loamy soil – endows the wine with fresh acidity, classic structure and focused mid palate concentration.

Cellar Approach 

Fermented in 1.5 ton open top bins – we utilize 15% whole cluster to include more aromatic lift and tannic pliancy in the structure. Punched down 2X per day throughout fermentation – the wine is pressed directly to barrel post 14 days skin contact. Raised in 50% New French Oak, the pinot noir ages on gross lees through malolactic fermentation. Post malo (~6 months post primary fermentation) the wine is racked off the heavy lees and blended in tank. The homogenous blend is returned to barrel, and continues to age for another 4-5 months off the lees, for a total of 10 months in barrel prior to bottle.