Bondi Home Ranch Pinot Noir 2019

The Bondi Home Ranch sits at the southernmost tip of the Russian River Valley in the Green Valley AVA in Sebastopol. Lee Martinelli Sr. inherited this ranch from his uncle when it was still an apple orchard, and has since converted the 20 acres to Pinot Noir grapes. The vineyard is planted with eastern exposure, which promotes even ripening with all day sun. The cool breeze from the sea rises in the late afternoon, skimming along the distant bank of fog, relieving the vines from the afternoon heat and enhancing slower ripening. The clones are 115, 777, 667, 828, 943 and Calera. Bondi Home Ranch has the longest growing season of all of our vineyards; it is the first to bloom and the last to be picked.

The 2019 season was overall very cool with record rainfall in Sonoma County in February. The vines however, were not affected by this because they were still dormant at the time. Similar to the 2018 season, spring and summer were moderate in temperature and ripening developed gradually and under minimal stress. This year was in fact so similar to 2018 that we began harvest the same day, on September 10^th. Unfortunately another wildfire hit the region at the end of October, but luckily none of our vineyards were affected. The winery and many staff were evacuated, but we were able to keep an eye on the new vintage with a skeleton crew. The quality was not impacted and we are very excited at the concentration of flavors in this vintage.

APPELLATION

Green Valley

VARIETALS PLANTED

Pinot Noir

SOIL INFORMATION

Goldridge

SOIL CHARACTERISTICS

Loam, Clay

ROOTSTOCK

101-14

CLONAL SELECTION

115, 828, 777, 667

YEAR ACQUIRED

1880

YEAR PLANTED

1997

As this wine opens up deep aromas of blueberry, sweet leather and clean earth appear. Generous tannin structure is found on the palate with flavors of plum and Bing cherries that coat and last through the finish.