J.C. Somers, 2019 Pinot Noir "Nouvelle Lune"

People

Jay Somers and his wife Ronda Newell Somers have been making wine in the Willamette Valley for over three decades. Their approach is embedded in an Old World mentality and philosophy: rather than chase heavy extraction for fruit- and tannin-bombs, Jay and Ronda aim for finesse and balance in their wines. While his previous brand, J. Christopher, focused on larger-scale production, his current J.C. Somers label foregrounds a focus on terroir, and so its wines are single-vineyard or single-AVA bottlings.

Place

Sourcing fruit from three vineyards in the Dundee Hills AVA (Abbey Ridge, Bella Vida, and La Colina), Jay and Ronda sought to represent the uniquely Oregonian red Jory soils through this wine. Dundee Hills tends to be a bit warmer than other Willamette Valley AVAs, which contributes to the ripe red fruit on the palate.

Palate

Ripe and abundant red fruit, balanced by a forest floor earthiness and minerality. Acidic and textural, thanks to oak aging, and lack of fining or filtration.

Technical Notes

100% de-stemmed, fermented with native yeasts. 20 months in oak barriques, 25% of which were new. Bottled without fining or filtration at 13 abv%.