1995 J Pinot Noir, Nicole's Vineyard

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The Vineyard
Nicole's Vineyard, J Vineyards & Winery's own vineyard is situated in the heart of the Russian River Valley. Nestled atop a gentle hillside endowed with red soils and gravelly terrain, Nicole's Vineyard is J's crown jewel; planted to premium vines trained to a vertical trellis.

Winemaker's Notes
The1995 Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir is a complex, multi-layered wine. Initial aromas are bursting with berries and violets as well as smoke and spice with just a hint of vanilla and mint. A slightly earthy note is evident after the wine has had a chance to breathe for about ten minutes. In the mouth, the wine delivers what was promised by the aroma; a broad range of fruity and earthy flavors including cherry, blackberry, anise, butterscotch, mint and dry spice. The mouth-feel is full without being heavy and tapers to a pleasant, long finish with light dry-spice flavors.

Processing
All fruit was carefully hand-harvested into small containers in order to ensure gentlest handling. The wine was fermented cool in a mix of open-top and closed-top fermenters. Most lots received two to three days of cold-soaking prior to fermentation. Wines were pressed at dryness into oak barrels, 30% of which were new, for nine months where malolactic fermentation was completed. Before bottling, the wine received a light egg white fining and a rough filtration.

Harvest: September 8, 1995

Harvest Analysis: Average Brix 23.8°, average acidity 0.55g/100ml, average pH 3.50

Final Blend: 100% Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

Bottled: August, 1996

Analysis at bottling: 13.8% alcohol by volume, TA 0.60, pH 3.58