2006 Peters Vineyard Pinot Noir
(Sebastopol, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County)

Randy Peters and his father-in-law, Tom Mukaida, farm this vineyard outside of Sebastopol in western Sonoma County. The southern slopes of these hills form the northern edge of the Petaluma Gap, which rushes cool, marine air from the Pacific Ocean inland. The vines, a mix of Pommard and 777 planted sixteen years ago, produce grapes that ripen unusually slowly due to the vineyard's often-present morning fogs. This year the vineyard yielded two tons per acre.

The Peters, like the Tina Marie, is more sensual than our Anderson Valley wines - the wine presents a lovely sweetness as well as pure black cherry and plum fruit. The 2006 vintage also gave the wine an elegance that focuses the wine's lushness. This Pinot is intense in the mouth, with subtle hints of mushroom and forest floor that emerge with aeration.