2022 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

2022 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

 By the Numbers

• 50% new French Oak (4 Francois Freres 3 Year air-dried VTG M toast) and 50% 1-year old French Oak
• 84.6% Whole Cluster Fermented
• Non-inoculated primary and malolactic fermentation
• 13.7% alcohol
• 3.57 pH
• 6.0 g/l TA

No Numbers…Just Words

The 2022 vintage was a very unique vintage throughout California. In a separate, accompanying article, I discuss the rather extreme steps I took to guarantee the quality of this vintage. The Rosella’s Vineyard was picked on September 19, 2022—just 5 days after the Garys’ Vineyard. This is the closest these vineyards have picked to one another in Clarice’s history. As in previous years, I combined the Pisoni Selection and Pommard Clone sections together and fermented them in one tank. I upped the percentage of whole clusters in the fermentation only destemming 2 out of 11 bins in hopes of keeping freshness in the wine. The wine’s intense character was evident throughout the fermentation and as such it didn’t seem to need much of the support that oak provides. We discovered this in our blending efforts, and ultimately settled on the final blend which utilizes 50% new French oak and 50% one-year old barrels. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration to preserve its natural character.