2014 Peterson Vineyard Pinot Noir

2014 was our second year of severe drought in California, and the one vineyard where we saw a diminished crop resulting from the lack of water was in the Peterson Vineyard.  However, it's not that the vines suffered by not having enough water, like you might expect.  It was that the deer who live close to the Salinas River weren't finding enough of their normal sustenance growing along the banks, and they had to wander up the slopes to search for more food.  The Peterson Vineyard sits just above the Salinas River, so the green leaves and tender shoots in the spring of 2014 were a great find for the deer.  Unfortunately, once the shoots and leaves were gone, that also meant a severely reduced amount of fruit.  The 2014 vintage saw a more than 50% reduction at Peterson after the prolific 2012 and 2013 harvests. 

We used three clones to produce the 2014 Peterson Pinot, clones 667, 828 and Pommard.  It has its typical Santa Lucia Highlands aromas of spicy fruit along with racy acidity on the palate and soft tannins.  Give this until midway through 2016 to start its development and it should last through 2022, possibly beyond.