The differences in wine quality between one plot of land and another have been observed for centuries in France. In Burgundy the highest vineyard classification is
Grand Cru, and the name of the vineyard,
Bonnes-Mares for example, will appear on the wine label even more prominently than the producer's name, showing the economic value of the vineyard's identity. All three Pinots we produce, our inexpensive
Anderson Valley bottling, the food-friendly
Méthode à l'Ancienne cuvée and this wine, our complex
Deep End Blend, come from a single vineyard, namely Navarro. However, within Navarro we have twenty-nine different blocks of Pinot Noir in our Philo vineyards alone, and many blocks are further divided by trellis or canopy management;
Bill pouring a magnum of an older vintage of Deep End
Pinot. Navarro's regime of selecting the best vineyard lots, aging in French oak barrels for sixteen months and finishing with an unfiltered bottling assures a long life for our Deep End
Pinots. They typically don't reach their best until about six to eight years after harvest. As of this newsletter, the 1999 is still a pleasure to drink.