It's hard not to compare back to back harvests, especially when variations in weather make such dramatic differences in the wines we can craft. Anderson Valley had pleasant, mild weather when the vines were flowering in 2006. The vines responded by producing clusters of grapes where each normal size berry had two seeds. In 2007, the weather was variable during spring and the grape clusters were a mishmash of berry sizes: tiny berries with no seeds, small berries with one seed and normal size berries with two seeds. Forgive our gender poetic license but we think last years release, the 2006 with the normally sized berries, which had a higher ratio of juice to skins, produced a more feminine wine with exquisite Pinot perfume, fine flavors and silky tannins. The increased ratio of skins to juice in this current 2007 release produced what we consider a more masculine wine: richer, bigger, with robust flavors and tannins. The weather during ripening was warmer in 2007; the grapes ripened almost three weeks earlier than in 2006 producing juice with more sugar as well as more acid.
Navarro prides itself in running a gender neutral harvest crew. ![[up]](/images/buttons/arrow_up.gif) ![[right]](/images/buttons/arrow_right.gif)
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Winemaking is for the fit and hardy. We punch down every bin by hand several times a day which requires strong arms, a strong back and a sunny disposition.
This current 2007 Pinot Noir is a concentrated wine with power, moxie and complex flavors but it will take longer to reveal its striking secrets. Each vineyard site and clone was fermented as a separate lot and in the summer of 2008 we selected our cuvée which had been aged eleven months in an equally divided mixture of new, one year old and two year old barrels. Gold Medal winner. Best of Class.
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