By Dewitt Family Wines
2020 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

The Estate
In 2017, Dewitt Family Wines had the opportunity to contract with DeNatale Vineyards. The DeNatale vineyard has been located at this site for 29 years. They are a 'stone's throw away' from some of the best Russian River growers in Sonoma County.

The Vintage
The vineyard is a boutique-size vineyard with an annual production of 2.5 to 3.25 tons for the recent five-year average. We harvested 2.5 tons on August 25, 2020, with an average brix of 24.5. The vineyard has a mixture of clones 777, 115, and 23, with clone 777 making up approximately 75%. The pH was 3.41, with a TA of 6.45.

Winemaking
The grapes were transported to the winery early morning, destemmed, and whole berry fermented in a three-ton stainless-steel tank. It went through a cold soak for three days before being warmed to 65 degrees F and inoculated with a 3001 yeast (Cote de Nuits, Beaune, France) from Scott Labs. The wine fermented for nine days and was pressed gently before being pumped into French oak, 50% being new. It was aged for 15 months with only two rackings before cross-flow filtration, then bottled on March 4, 2022. The wine will be released in the Fall of 2022.
[Information provided by Matador Vino]