- Wines
2017 Rapley Trail Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rapley Trail Vineyard has a unique aromatic incense of North-African spice and forest floor. This vintage is energetic with red fruits and firm tannins.
Vineyard
Rapley Trail Vineyard consists of the martini clone planted in 1983. The 6-acre plot sits at an elevation of 1650 feet and is southeast facing. Different blocks are harvested and bottled from this vineyard to showcase the soil and climate variations found here. At higher elevations the soil is dark and rich whereas the lower portions are grey, lean, and rough. While all vintages and blocks yield distinctive notes, there is a common theme of an exotic and spicy aroma.
Winemaker Notes
Record setting rain replenished our dry soils after 4 continuous years of drought. Yet, it was also another year of record setting heat with an exceptionally torrid Labor Day weekend. Spring was mild, allowing us to pick the best crop we’ve seen since 2012. This was a vintage of good yields and great quality.
Technical Data
Vintage
2017
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Santa Cruz Mountains
Vineyard Designation
Rapley Trail Vineyard
Acid
6.3
pH
3.31
Alcohol %
13.2
Other Notes
Black-raspberry-jam, rose-petal and lilac aromas meet with a wet rock minerality on the nose of this single- vineyard expression. The palate is loaded with those rocky flavors of gravel, granite and sandstone, settling into rich boysenberry and spice tones of star anise and clove. — 94 points. Matt Kettmann, Wine Enthusiast