World of Pinot Noir & our Single Block Wines

I showed two of our three single vineyard block '06 Pinots over the past weekend during WOPN (World of Pinot Noir).  These are new wines for us and not yet released. Our intent with them is to show the widest range of structure possible from our vineyards at the highest quality level. We consider all three of these bottlings to be of the best quality, but they are wildly different in personality, you might say. I showed the most delicate one, the "Lily Gil" from block 593 first to a small roomful of amateurs and professionals during a Riedel seminar that featured one Burgundy Pinot, one Oregon Pinot and two Central Coast Pinots. All of the wines were really delicious, but the Tolosa "Lily Gil" got the most comments from Georg Riedel because it is so very different from the typical California Pinot. He was in a sense shocked - pleasantly so. He said that he didn't know it was possible to make such a delicate and complex wine in California. He was effusive in his praise.

I next showed the wine from block 597 which we call "Beyond" to John Haeger author of the justly famous book, California Pinot Noir published by UC Press. This you might guess from its name is just the opposite of the "Lily Gil". It is big and dark and well structured. We tasted it alongside the 2006 Tolosa Estate Pinot Noir for comparative purposes. Despite its fairly massive flavor weight this wine drank beautifully and I was surprised by how open and delicious it was. John liked it as well and tasting the two wines lead us into a long discussion of use of whole clusters in wine making and many other esoteric topics. Unique and individual wines such as these are a stimulant to the mind as well as the appetite.

-Larry Brooks, Winemaker

Georg Riedel visiting Tolosa

Two of the three single block Pinot Noir's are named after two of the owners first grandchild, being "Lily Gil" and "Marley Anne". Look for these great Pinot's and "Beyond" later in 2008! Please let us know any comments or questions!

Comments

[NRC]

As I am sure that many Oregon & Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir producers would point out, John's book is called "North American Pinot Noir"