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Wine Information
2013 Vintage
The Sexton Road Ranch Pinot Noir is the rst wine Inman Family labeled as Sonoma Coast. Located in the Sebastopol Hills at around 900 feet in elevation, this vineyard selection of Pommard, 777, and 23 clones has yielded a rich, seductive Pinot Noir with dark fruits and exotic spices.
Farmed by highly regarded grower Jim Pratt, Inman Family’s winemaker Kathleen Inman wanted to make wine from this site for many years. In 2013, she secured the rst fruit from this lovely vineyard perched above Freestone. This area of Sonoma County can be labeled either Russian River Valley or Sonoma Coast. The luscious, dark, concentrated fruit and racy acidity combines with the generous tannins to create an age-worthy structure.
Pratt's Sexton Road Ranch is not far from the Klopp's Thorn Ridge Ranch, which Inman sourced from between 2006-2012. It is adjacent to Littorai's Haven and Balletto's Sexton Hill ranches. The vineyard is about 9 miles from the Paci c Ocean. It is planted on steep hillsides of Goldridge soil.
Appellation: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California, USA
Fruit Source: Jim Pratt’s Sexton Road Ranch Vineyard
Tasting Notes
Color: Dark ruby
Aroma: Cherry, cola, toasty oak, and loam with a hint of cardamom Flavor: Black currant, blackberry, black cherry, sweet oak, and mushroom
Winemaker Notes
The fruit was picked before dawn, destemmed at rst light, and fermented in a 5-ton open top, stainless steel fermenter. No water, acid, enzymes or tannins were added. The grapes cold soaked for 4 days and were warmed to encourage a spontaneous fermentation. Once dry, the must was pressed in a basket press, settled overnight and barreled down to French oak barrels, 85% one year or older and two new Billon barrels. The wine was not ned. It was ltered using cross- ow technology and bottled under Stelvin closure.
Vintage 2013
Napa Valley Harvest 2013 Report
A seamless year of steady weather and optimal ripening brings in above average yields and excellent quality fine wine grapes
10/22/2013 - St. Helena, CA: The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) reports that the region’s winemakers expect to be done with the 2013 harvest within the next week. “Early, even and excellent” are three words being used to describe this year’s growing season and the Napa Valley wine grapes that have come from it, reflecting the consistent quality for which this world famous wine region is known.
A warm, dry spring brought early bud break, helped with canopy vigor and berry size and created ideal conditions for flowering and fruit set under sunny skies. With the exception of one heat spike in late June/early July, temperatures were consistently in the zone for optimal vine activity, resulting in notably healthy vines as fruit went through veraison and started ripening.
The August 1 start of harvest was the earliest in recent history. White wine grapes came in at a furious pace throughout that month, moving on to lighter reds by early September. Two brief mid-September rains had virtually no impact on the grapes. The vast majority of the more delicate skinned grapes had already been harvested and sunny weather with breezes followed the rains, allowing for the mostly Cabernet Sauvignon that remained to dry out almost immediately. The cooler, sunny weather throughout October allowed the final grapes still on the vine to linger longer, developing more phenolic and flavor maturities with sugar levels remaining steady.
As this harvest comes to a close, it is about two weeks earlier than other Napa Valley harvests in the last decade. Yields on the whole have been above average.
“In a nutshell, this vintage has given us the extraordinary gift of enabling us to pick exactly what we wanted, when we wanted, at perfect ripeness and ideal hang time,” noted Paul Colantuoni, winemaker at Rocca Family Vineyards.
Winemakers from around the valley agree the 2013 vintage holds exceptional promise and potential and exceeded expectations following on the heels of 2012 – another year that has been described as “nearly perfect.”
