2008 August Briggs 'Dijon Clones' Napa Valley Pinot Noir

One of the factors improving the overall quality of Pinot Noir in California is the planting of the so-called “Dijon Clones” of Pinot Noir. The clones come from cuttings taken from vines in Burgundy, and then propagated by the Dijon University. The most commonly seen in Napa are clones 115, 667, and 777. They are known for their purity of fruit and focused structure.

Our 2008 Napa Valley Pinot Noir “Dijon Clones,” grown at the Green Island vineyard in the very cool south end of Napa, has a very beautiful nose of plum and black cherry combined with a noted bit of toasted vanilla oak. There are forward flavors of dark fruit, strawberry, spice, and vanilla oak. It has plenty of fruit forward with a lively structured finish. Serve with lamb, roast pork, or full flavored cheese.

After hand sorting, the clusters were de-stemmed into a small open-top fermenter. After a two day cold soak, the must was inoculated with Assmanhausen yeast. The cap was punched-down twice daily, by hand. After a gentle pressing, the wine was inoculated for malo-lactic fermentation and barreled down to traditional burgundian barrels. The barrels used were 30% new French oak and 70% two and three year old French barrels. The wine was aged in barrel for 8 months, and then bottled without fining or filtration. Only 805 cases produced.