2020 Pyramid Valley Earth Smoke Pinot Noir

"Carefully hand sorted, fully destemmed and fermented with yeasts from the vineyard, gently fermented using infusion methods for 21-27 days. Settled in tank before being transferred to French wooden cuves and barrel. Elevage of 18 months, then bottled unfined and unfiltered. Moderate black cherry colour, present and brooding in the glass. A deep, dark feel to the aromas, brooding black cherry and dark plum, pure and comforting, orange, Christmas cake spices, hints of warm, damp forest earth, precise and compelling. Lovely warm, ripe black cherry pastry feel on the palate, open and delicious kept in its place by wonderful savoury, sappy nuances, a hint of charcoal and vanilla; dense and long with no hint of sweetness just immaculate ripeness and the feel of clay and chalk. An iron fist in a velvet glove. Incredible.

"The 2019 Pinot Noir Earth Smoke is a complex, intriguing wine that draws you into a labyrinth of aromas and flavors. The sensitive use of oak (older barrels of 1–4 years old) allows the layers of unadulterated fruit to shine through the herbals of rosemary, pine and the exotic cinnamon-like spices. While it's densely concentrated and has a satisfying sense of weight on the mid-palate, the wine’s naturally ebullient energy and acidity are ever present, providing a sense of transparency and freshness; this may have something to do with the high active lime content in the soil. Indeed, there's a distinctly chalky character and a tension on the finish that goes on and on. This is a wine I'd happily drown in."

"Full bottle 1,423 g. Certified Demeter biodynamic. Earth Smoke is an expansive, east-facing slope with strong, structured soils that are comparatively high in limestone. The name comes from the nickname given to fumitory, a plant of the poppy family that thrives in this 0.85-ha plot. The fruit for the 2019 was carefully hand-sorted, fully destemmed and spontaneous fermentation. Following 27 to 28 days on skins, the juice was pressed, then settled in tank before being transferred by gravity to French barrels for 16 months. Smells like late-summer roses on the cusp of a heavy summer thunderstorm, hot tar simmering in the heat, black-violet sky towering overhead. Tastes like petrichor, like a lick of rain-wet gravel, like bacon smoke and cranberries rubbed on old platinum. The tannins feel like old stained-glass windows in a stone chapel, bending the light through ruby, azure, emerald, honey lead-laced diamonds. A pin-prick of blood on an earth-stained finger, and someone paused to write a word in charcoal on a cold rock, left a rose petal behind. (TC)."