Spring Release Highland Divide Pinot Noir
2021

Winemaker’s Notes

This 100% estate-grown wine is not only the richest and most textural of these Spring Release Pinots, it’s also the most structured. You could open an initial bottle later this spring to get a sense of the vintage, but make no mistake, this can age and improve for up to a decade in your cellar—it comes from impeccable fruit sources.

It blends fruit from our high-density parcels that are of vineyard designate quality but find a home here as we choose to limit production of those Estate bottlings. Each vine parcel adds detail to the blend—as we progress down the east-facing hillside, we find complementary elements of fruit depth and structure, silky texture and acidity, aromatic lift and mineral purity.

The wine is succulent and expansive but always fresh and vibrant. It’s led by classic Green Valley aromas and flavors of red and black cherry; bright cranberry and fresh hibiscus; alongside typical woodsy/underbrushy complexity. The wine is pure and linear with a long vein of red minerals running through the palate. Layers of concentration emerge as the wine opens in the glass. Tannins and acidity combine to give focus and extend the flavors which linger and echo. A beautifully defined wine of nuance, intensity, and texture. Drink between summer-2023 and 2030.

Andy Smith