DDLC Estate Pinot Noir - Pinot Noir (21)

Pinot Noir | blend van alle single vineyards | bodem leem over schalie | 100% whole bunch | gisting in open beton | rijping voor 10 maanden op neutraal Frans hout | puur | levendig | aardbei | kers | rode bessen | iets bloemig | aards | stenig | paars fruit | granaatappel | fijne tannine | pit en lengte

Domaine de la Côte

Domaine de la Côte bestaat uit vijf wijngaarden in het westelijkste deel van Sta. Rita Hills. 11km van de Grote Oceaan vandaan. De wijngaarden zijn aangeplant in 2007 vanuit het niets. Sashi en Rajatt waren een van de eersten die hiet druiven gingen aanplanten. Het idee is; 'Winemaking here is like growing pinot noir in a cool vintage in Burgundy, but every year'. DDLC is gestart door Rajat Parr (top sommelier) en Sashi Moorman (wijnmaker). Zij zagen in Santa Barbara een plek waar Charadonnay en Pinot Noir gemaakt kunnen worden die net zo elegant zijn als wijnen uit Europa. Santa Barbara County ligt in het zuiden van Californië en heeft 5 AVA’s waarvan Santa Rita Hill’s voor Sandhi het belangrijkste is. Daar zijn ze opzoek gegaan naar wijngaarden met oude stokken en met noordelijke expositie. Het is in de Santa Rita Hill’s (relatief) koel en er is veel afkoeling door wind van de stille oceaan. De wijnen van Domaine de la Côte worden gerekend tot de meest verfijnde Chardonnay en Pinot Noir die er gemaakt wordt in Amerika. Het gaat bij de wijnen om finesse en waanzinnig pure zuren. 

"Our opinion of the vintage is different than our colleagues because we have a distinct microclimate," Sashi Moorman explains. "What happens here is not representative of what happens in other appellations because we are so far west. The fog comes in earlier and stays around longer. 2016 to 2018, as a trio of vintages, are really special. We finally got out of the drought. 2016 was the most charming of the three. The wines are very forward with lots of fruit." And they are excited about the 2017s, Sashi says. "They are very classic for us, with a little bit more tannin. The 2018s—it's still early, but the wines are just great. With Domaine de la Côte, we really hope people will hold on to these. We really build them up so they'll have a long life in the cellar. It's quite old fashioned. I realized Raj and I are really of a different generation. Some of the wines we produce are made in a style that a lot of people don't pursue anymore." I was very pleased with the quality of the Domaine de la Côte wines in 2017. The wines seem more giving and approachable than other, earlier vintages I've tasted. A visit later in the year to Evening Land, the pair's project in the Willamette Valley, revealed wines with much less overt reductive character than their 2016 counterparts. Except for the Pure cuvée, there is about 20% new oak across the board for the Domaine de la Côte wines. The Siren is made with 50% whole cluster, and the rest of the wines are crafted with 100% whole cluster. "People think we pick early on purpose because we want low alcohol wines," Rajat explains. "But it's because our yields are naturally so low, we have to pick so much earlier because the grapes ripen faster. These wines are all around 13% to 13.5% alcohol. We just pick when it's ripe."