Lejano is Spanish for "distant" or "far away," which aptly characterizes this remote Sonoma Coast vineyard. It sits just 5-miles from the Pacific on a series of ridgelines ranging from 500-700ft—placing it at or just above the fog line. Pinot Noir Clones 115 & 777 were planted in 1999 on a sandier soil base full of seashells. The extreme microclimate requires a steady temperament and a willingness to work with very low yields.
In 2019 we received a cease and desist order on the name LAGUNA. Rather than fight with Goliath, we began to think about another name. As fate would have it, 2019 marked the final year of our grape contact at Teac Mor—long the source of Laguna. Writing was on the wall: it was time to evolve this wine's source, its name, and its identity. We went West to a source in the newly minted West Sonoma Coast AVA, near Annapolis. The fruit from this marginal site is more precious than was our Teac Mor fruit, but it is also more essentially Sonoma Coast. Lejano translates to "far away or distant" which accurately describes this spectacular site with unobstructed views of the Pacific. What was once an apple farm is now a world class Pinot vineyard with soils full of fossilized scallop shells. In the wild 2020 vintage we harvested early, destemmed all the fruit, fermented very gently, and bottled just free-run juice. The result? A wine with that electric, red crunch we've come to expect from this zone.
AROMA
red currant, rhubarb, pink peppercorn
FLAVOR
fresh-picked raspberry, rose water, rosemary
FOOD PAIRINGS
oil poached tuna, seared duck breast, roasted Hen-of-the-woods
VINIFICATION
One ton of clone 777 + 2 tons of clone 115 Pinot Noir were hand-harvested and sorted on Sept 15th. Fruit was de-stemmed and cold-soaked for 4-days prior to spontaneous fermentation. We employed punch-downs and pump-overs lasting 14-days.
The wine was lightly pressed into French oak barriques (20% new), aged for 10-months, & bottled unfiltered.
