Chalk Hill - Pinot Noir 2012 | Monsieur Touton Selection

Tasting notes

Our rst vintage of the 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is medium ruby in color and displays expressive fruit aromas of forward Bing cherry, cranberry, espresso, toasty oak, and damp forest oor earthiness. The palate is bright and full of cherry fruit with sandalwood and cedar overtones. The nish on this Pinot is soft with earthiness typically found in Carneros Pinots, mocha, and lingering avors of oriental spice. This wine is quite enjoyable in its youth and will develop more Pinot aromas and complexity over time.

Fermentation and aging

regular bâtonnage; 100% malolactic fermentation
Cooperage: Hungarian and French Oak barrels
Barrel Aging: 9 months

Harvest data

Harvest Dates: September 10 - October 11, 2012
Bottling Date: July 2013
Average Brix at Harvest: 24. degrees

Vineyard

Since its founding, Chalk Hill has been producing artisan wines from our Estate vineyards in the hills of northeastern Sonoma County. For four decades we have studied, prodded and coaxed our complex terroir to ensure that our Estate wines deliver vivid aromatics, commanding avors, great character and regional accuracy. While our 300+ acres of vineyards surrounding the winery will always be the cornerstone of our identity, starting with the 2012 vintage, we started producing our rst Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir comes from extraordinary vineyards throughout Sonoma County consisting primarily of Foley Family estate Vineyards. Our Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir features fruit from some of the best sites in Carneros, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Sonoma Coast.

Wine data

pH: 3.75
TA: 5.5 g/L
Alcohol: 14.9%

Winemaking

2012 was our rst, more normal vintage (temperature wise) in a long time! It was a mild winter with adequate rainfall. Spring was normal with a good set for Pinot Noir in early to mid-May. June and July were mild to warm; with veraison beginning the third week in July. August was cooler and foggier, thus cluster sizes increased, but not alarmingly so. September was again, mild and even lending us to harvest clean, ripe fruit between September 10th and October 11th. Barrel fermentation and aging in Hungarian and French Oak barrels led to full ML.

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