2015 Dierberg "TY" Pinot Noir, Drum Canyon Vineyard, SRH

CCL
Four decades ago, the Dierberg family quest of producing world-class wine began in their home state of Missouri. Two decades later, the family settled in their second home, Santa Barbara County, where the Star Lane, Dierberg, and Drum Canyon vineyards were born. Each vineyard is tethered to a 250-year pursuit of making wine where value is derived from the unique qualities discovered from each site. CCL (250 years in Roman Numerals) wines personify the dedication, passion, and pursuit embarked upon four decades ago.

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VINTAGE
2015 brought some dramatic yield differences from recent vintages. After plentiful yields in 2012-2014, the vines seemed content with producing fewer clusters. Then in May, we experienced one of the coldest weather patterns in over a decade during flowering, reducing the amount of berries that set. Therefore yields were very low. The season progressed fairly normally if being early like the previous drought-driven vintages. While the vintage will be known for several heat spells from mid-September into October, the Pinot Noir was harvested prior to those spells and had a lovely, cool ripening period to finish. Therefore the vintage was concentrated, fresh, and limited. 

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WINEMAKER NOTES
2015 brought dark, concentrated, and fruit-forward flavor which we felt needed restraint as the block of Drum Canyon vineyard used to source Ty already provides those things. Unlike other Pinot Noir from 2015, we did not increase stem inclusion here and shortened the time on skins in order to maintain a level of finesse among the exceptional depth and nuance offered by the vintage. As the wine aged we noticed that the oak integration was even better than 2014, therefore the selection resulted in 100% new oak. The result is a wine loaded with depth and structure without compromising the usual finesse of Pinot Noir. These wines will take some time to open up, but it is proving to be an exceptional vintage built to age. 

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TASTING NOTES
2015 is quite explosive from the glass but in a veiled manner where it is hard to articulate specific flavors. Drum Canyon often offers a flinty spice to its fresh red and blue fruits and 2015 is no exception. There is an impression of brooding intensity that we believe is some "vintage-impact" which provides an attractive mysterious quality to the wine. The texture is deep, full, and supple leaning primarily on a fresh and tensely framed finish that is very long.