During our 2002 Deep End Pinot Noir barrel tasting, Pre-Release members helped replant what historically has been our most successful Pinot field, the South Hill. We were impressed by the quality of the fruit in 2006 and 2007, so in the spring of 2008 we decided to produce a wine that our friends, who helped plant the vines, would appreciate. After flowering, Navarro's vineyard crew thinned every shoot to one grape cluster rather than the normal two, concentrating all of the vine's energy into half the amount of fruit. In June 2010, we tasted Navarro's three 2008 Pinot Noirs, comparing them to the same bottlings from 2006 and 2007 for smokiness. There was an additional bottle in the tasting: this 2008 Planter's Reserve. Deborah and Ted loved the wine with its opulent toasty flavors and proceeded to polish off the bottle with the evening meal. Our daughter Sarah showed up, tasted all the wines and announced that this was the most smoke affected 2008.

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We suspect she was correct but when your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes. This is one of the biggest, richest and smokiest Pinot's we've ever produced. Fifty two Pinot Noirs were entered in the North of The Gate Wine Competition; this bottling, originally priced as $29.00, won its second Gold Medal and was declared Best of Class.

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