2006 Pinot Noir 'Kendric Vineyard' Marin County The grapes for this wine are grown in a small 8.5 acre hillside vineyard which straddles the boundary of the Marin County & Sonoma Coast appellations. This location benefits from the warm days, as well as the cooling Pacific breezes blowing in from the coast some 8 miles away. The row by row harvest took place in stages between Sept. 24th and 28th. The blend of three clones, 677, 115 & Pommard were grown on the well draining sandy loam soils. Crushed into small 1/2 ton open top macro bins leaving roughly 20% of the clusters whole, we cold soaked the grapes for three days before starting fermentation. The fruit was fermented on the cooler side to retain the delicate aromatics of Pinot Noir. After 13 days we loaded the must into our 3/4 ton hydro-basket press, gently pressing off into a mix of 3 new Mercier Vosges & 5 seasoned French oak barrels. After about 14 months we bottled Dec.11th as always, unfined & unfiltered. This well balanced Pinot Noir should cellar nicely. We anticipate that this wine will begin to show its full array of talents by early 2010. As these wines age, expect natural sediment to form.