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Since the 1994 vintage, the best part of Navarro's Pinot Noir has been pre-sold a year before release. We call our favorite Pinot Noir the Deep End, which is an old Boontling term for the chilly, northwestern edge of the Anderson Valley where the grapes, cooled by ocean breezes, mature slowly and ripen late. This wine is a blend of our best lots from our best Deep End vineyards, aged in our best barrels, so it is a special wine that we can only produce in a limited quantity.

2021 was a challenging vintage that seems to have yielded incredible returns. The winter of 2020-21 produced just 16-1/2 inches of rain—less than half of a typical Anderson Valley season. As with some things in life, it's not how much you get but when and how it arrives. Each rainstorm seemed to be little more than a drizzle, filling our soils, but producing little to no runoff for irrigating our vines later in the year.

Tasting a barrel sample before a wine is packaged and bottle-aged requires skill and imagination. It takes experience to predict how a wine will taste a year down the road. Navarro's Pre-Release members have practiced the art of barrel sampling Navarro Pinot Noir since the 1994 vintage at the August Futures Offering and Barrel Tasting and they end up ordering the lion's share.

Navarro's Marking Corral vineyards are located about 1200 feet above the valley floor. Ocean breezes, southwest-facing slopes, well-drained soil, planted in 115, 667 and 777 clonal selections, makes these Pinot Noirs, produced from grapes nourished in lofty heights.

As farmers we entered the season with a thrifty mindset, determined to only irrigate on the warmest days. The vines too seemed to be much more frugal, setting small clusters with tiny berries. Harvest began in early September following an August heat wave. We are astounded by the concentration in our 2021 Pinot Noirs with flavors suggesting black cherry, strawberry jam, earthy tannins and spicy layers of lavender sage.

We will cellar the 2021 Deep End another six months in French Oak barrels and bottle it in the spring of 2023, then age it in bottle in our cellars until release. Wine purchased as futures will be available for pick up or delivery in 2023 from April until September. Price does not include sales tax or shipping which will be collected when the wine is shipped. The futures offering ends when the quantities set aside are fully subscribed.