By 1994 we had a good sense of which Pinot Noir clones would make good wine on the floor of the Anderson Valley. During our "third wave" of Pinot planting, on southwest facing hillsides, we took the clones that had performed best in the valley floor, expanded the selections and continued to plant in blocks which varied by clone or rootstock. We expected that a particular site, or block, would make the best wine each year. In order to figure out the best sites or blocks, each harvest we've fermented and aged the thirty-one small blocks as separate lots of wine. To our surprise, the block that produces the "best" wine, varies year to year. Admittedly, some sites are more frequent winners than other sites, but the changing weather patterns year-to-year influence which site or block will shine in any particular year. This wine is a blend selected from our six best lots of 2010 Pinot, with blocks in the Middle Ridge and Marking Corral providing 90% of the fruit; both of these vineyards are the most exposed to the ocean and cooled by ocean breezes every afternoon.

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For whatever the reason, low crop load, small berries, or an extended cool, dry summer, after we selected and blended the Deep End cuvée, the wine seemed unusually rich so we returned it to the barrel to back the abundant fruit with sensuous oak. Bottled unfiltered to display its vigor. Gold Medal winner.

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