Dragonette Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2022 Red Wine
- Retail Price:$54.99
- Your Price:$48.99
(You save $6.00) - Brand:Dragonette
- Availability:In Stock
- Current Stock:19
Dragonette Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2022
750 ml
92 pts. Wine Advocate:
“Entirely destemmed and aged 15 months in neutral oak, the 2022 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills admirably accomplishes its mission of summarizing both the Dragonette style and the Sta. Rita Hills. A mixture of red and black fruits, sea spray and dried flowers introduce a silky-meets-plush palate that finishes with gently swelling tannins and an additional hit of saline energy.”
This Pinot Noir is a blend of 8 of the best vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. It's just perfectly balanced and absolutely delicious! I love the lively spiciness of this wine. Pairs beautifully with poultry, pork, fish, and even tomato-based Italian dishes. You can't go wrong with this Pinot - it's a crowd pleaser! – Wine Factor
FROM THE WINERY
GEOGRAPHY & PHILOSOPHY
Located at the cool, foggy windswept western edge of northern Santa Barbara County, Sta. Rita Hills is justly renowned for producing world class Pinot Noir. We select several distinctive vineyard sites in diverse soils, elevations, and aspects, and then farm these sites with exacting detail to obtain fruit of extraordinary quality. This fruit is gently shepherded into Pinot Noirs of aromatic and flavor complexity, textural purity and impeccable balance. This wine is a selection of individual barrels, each intended to add nuance and interest to the final blend.
THE VINEYARDS
Fiddlestix (SIP certified sustainable): Primarily Botella clay loam soils, with some chert. Wines are rich, high-pitched, spicy, and complex; Radian (SIP): Dramatic, steep, remote and otherworldly. Cold, windy conditions give tiny yields and great concentration. Sanford & Benedict (Organic, not certified): Historic, 50-year-old vines at magical site. Concentrated, bright red fruits, elegance and length. Bentrock (SIP): Steep hills, cold winds and dense fog, wines with concentrated red fruits and minerals. Rancho La Vina: Mighty north facing plateau, sandy loam soils, sturdy wines with big fruit presence. La Rinconada: Mt. Eden clone. Rock-filled, north facing slope. Middle weight, cherry driven, good structure. Spear (Certified organic): Steep slope of sandy loam, swan clone, red fruited wines with fresh herbs. Duvarita (biodynamic): Sandy, south-facing hillside. Low Yields.
THE VINTAGE
2022 was another generally cool year that was upended by a late season heatwave, much like 2020. Winter began with a series of December storms and excellent early rainfall. Unfortunately, there was no rain after January, leaving soils dry by early Spring, which was cool and very windy. Budbreak was early but yields were on the low side due to shatter and drought. Spring and early summer were cool with only a few days of warmth, portending a late year. August turned warmer and ripening accelerated. In early September we faced an extended 7-10 day heatwave, which required careful monitoring, picking and sorting. Yields suffered from dehydration, but acidities remained solid from the overall cool year. With careful sorting and handling, quality was excellent.
OUR WINEMAKING
We harvest each individual lot in the cold early morning hours with rigorous hand sorting for quality, and we process the fruit within hours. Most lots were destemmed, though we employed whole clusters on a small percentage of the fruit. Fermentation was by native yeasts, using a mixture of pumpovers and punchdowns for extraction. At dryness, free run juice was drained to barrel, and the berries gently pressed separately. The wine was aged on its lees before blending. Bottled unfined & unfiltered.
PROPRIETORS/WINEMAKERS
John Dragonette, Steve Dragonette, & Brandon Sparks-Gillis
VINEYARDS
Fiddlestix - 32%
Radian - 22%
Sanford & Benedict – 12%
Bentrock – 10%
Rancho La Vina – 6%
La Rinconada – 6%
Spear - 6%
Duvarita – 6%
CLONES: 113, 114, 115, 667, 777, 4, 5, Swan, Mt. Eden, Heritage Martini (via Martin Ray)
HARVEST DATES: August 31- September 26
FERMENTATION: 1.5 ton open top fermenters, 96% Destemmed, 4% Whole Cluster
Native yeasts & MLF (in barrel)
AGING & COOPERAGE: 15 months on the lees, Neutral French oak barriques
BOTTLED: February 1, 2024
ALCOHOL: 14.2%
CASES PRODUCED: 820