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About this wine:
2008 was a great vintage blessed with a long, dry growing season. This is the kind of year when Pinot Noir
reaches its ultimate expression of quality in Oregon. Temperance Hill Vineyard - one of the oldest in the
appellation - is planted at a high elevation by Oregon standards and sits squarely on the 45th parallel,
renowned as a benchmark latitude for winegrowers in France as well as Oregon. Peter Paul’s designated
vineyard block is south-facing, which provides maximum ripening potential in a cooler region such as this
one. The grapes are clone 777. They are hand-punched down and fermented cool, for a long, slow primary
and secondary (malolactic) fermentation. Aging is in French oak for 12 to 14 months.
The grape clusters are sorted by hand, destemmed and fermented as whole berries. These berries are gently
punched down by hand in 1.5-ton fermenters twice daily. The must is cold-soaked for six days prior to a cool,
slow fermentation using Montrachet yeast. The new wine is drained and pressed directly to barrels, which
allows for more lees contact and richer mouthfeel. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally in French Mercurey
barrels and subsequent barrel aging takes place for 12 to 14 months.
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