2008 Comptche Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir
(Comptche, Mendocino County)

This remote, two-acre vineyard shows the elegance and grace of cool-climate Pinot Noir. The vineyard is located in a temperate area on fine sandy-clayey Franciscan soils above the town of Comptche, just inland from the northern Mendocino County coast. Owned and managed by John Weir, Comptche Ridge is dry-farmed and guided by organic principles to promote the health of the land and to improve wine quality. The vineyard, planted exclusively to Swan clone, yielded one ton per acre.

The year's wine exhibits cool, deeply-pitched aromas, showing black raspberry, citrus peel, and hints of soy that slowly emerge with air. Year after year, extremely low yields create a beautiful lushness to this very cool-climate wine. This Pinot is marked by unusually persistent and penetrating flavors on a delicate, almost crystalline, frame.