August West
These micro-production wines are a joint venture between Ed Kurtzman (winemaker), Gary Franscioni (owner of Rosella’s vineyard) and Howard Graham (owner of Graham Family Vineyard). The wines are made at Freeman Winery, from fruit sourced from some of Sonoma Coast’s most highly regarded vineyards. August West Winemaker Ed Kurtzman has been making Pinot Noir since 1994 where he got his start in the cellar at Bernardus. From 1995 through 1998 Ed moved across Monterey County to Chalone Vineyard where he was enologist and then assistant winemaker under Michael Michaud. Ed had the good fortune of meeting future August West partners Gary Franscioni and Howard Graham while he was winemaker at Testarossa for the vintages 1999-2002. Ed uses a very light hand in the cellar when it comes to winemaking. Ed feels that his role is that of caretaker for Gary’s and Howard’s wonderful grapes.
Pinot Noir Graham Vineyard (Archived) 2006
695 cases bottled
Released February 11, 2008
Graham vineyard is lighter and more restrained than Rosella's with notes of herbs and earth.
More Information about Graham Vineyard:
The Graham Family Vineyard is located in the heart of the Russian River Valley appellation, between the towns of Forestville, Sebastopol and Graton. Howard Graham found the site for his vineyard in 2001, hired vineyard manager Charlie Chenoweth, and began planting in the spring of 2002. Howard and Charlie chose Pinot Noir clones 667, 777, 828, Swan and Calera in order to cover a wide spectrum of Pinot flavors.
Although the Russian River Valley appellation covers a large area in western Sonoma County, the Graham Family Vineyard lies in a small sub-appellation called Green Valley. Years ago when the neighboring winery Iron Horse planted their vineyards, it was thought that Green Valley was the coolest place in California where Pinot Noir would ripen. Fewer than 10 miles to the west of the vineyard lies the Pacific Ocean, so it is no surprise that the amount of sunshine during the growing season is equaled by cooling sea breezes and layers upon layers of fog.
Region: Sonoma
Producer: August West
Product Code DB7219-06
Varietal Pinot Noir
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