CARLTON HILL
2007 ESTATE PINOT NOIR

In all honesty, I am relieved to get the 2007 vintage behind me.

Growing Conditions

Warm rains during mid-season required constant vigilance in our spray program to combat powdery mildew and botrytis set. While the crews were successful in most part, some clusters had to be removed by hand in order to preserve the integrity of the crop. The growing season also abruptly ended on September 30th when winter basically descended upon Oregon. From this point forward, ripening days were few and far between. Fortunately, through good canopy management and continuous fruit selection, we were able to harvest our grapes on September 29th, reaching nearly 24 brix in ripeness. Yields in the 115 Dijon block barely reached 1.4 tons to the acre. The 777 Dijon block had a slightly larger fruit set, producing approximately 2 tons to the acre.

Clones and Characteristics

The goal for each Estate release, in contrast to our reserve wines, is to reflect as closely as possible both the weather characteristics of each vintage and the variations within the vineyard itself. Consequently, the majority of the juice used in the 2007 Carlton Hill Estate Pinot Noir derives from the 777 Dijon block. This particular clone produces fruit flavors--raspberry, red cherry, cranberry and strawberry, to name a few. However, the intriguing aspect of the 07 vintage is that there is a heightened minerality, or soil characteristic, to the wine. The wine, while evolving with each week in the bottle, is showing more currant or dried fruit qualities rather than the sweeter, more ripe fruit features of the 06 Estate.

Barrel Regimen

As is the case for all our Estate wines, the wine was aged in oak barrels for 11 months and approximately 25% of the wood used for this vintage was new French oak.

In My Humble Opinion

True to this remarkable vineyard, the wine again achieves a near seamless balance of ripe tannins and acidity. Because the fruit is more subdued on the palate than the 06 vintage, the tannins and herb spices are more expressive, resulting in perhaps the most subtle and complex Carlton Hill vintage to date. If the early reviews from restaurant customers are any indication, this will be an extraordinary food wine.

470 cases are available for purchase.

Buy the 2007 Carlton Hill Estate Pinot Noir 

Full Case…$400       Half Case…$205     Bottle…$36

I look forward to your impressions.

David C. Polite
Carlton Hill Wine Company