2011 Hooper 206 Vintners Pinot Noir
SKU:
$28.00
$28.00
per item
"I have a recurring nightmare. In it, my wine is being marketed by suit-wearing cubicle rats, distributed by corporate road warriors, rated on a point scale by the wine world equivalent of wet t-shirt contest judges and then sold to an audience of gullible, ignorant sheep-people. But then I wake up to reality. Our wine doesn’t need any distribution contracts, ‘ad spend,’ or the inextricably-linked approval of the wine media and you don’t either. So drink something real. We let this pinot be what it wants to be – no additions, no manipulations and a 100% spontaneous fermentation. It has decided to be sublime. Enjoy.”
Tasting Notes: A nose of brandied apricots and fresh, black mulberry that transitions into raspberry
jam with a subtle hint of cola on the front of the palate. The mid-palate aroma is pure vanilla extract,
with pleasant acidity and a graceful backbone of tannins. The wine finishes with dried apricot and
tart, sour cherry preserves. As the wine opens, distinct pepper and spice aromas begin to
complement the other flavors from nose to finish. Or, at least those are the impressions I got the night
before reading this. Our wine is unfined and unfiltered. It is alive, so the flavor profile is dynamic and
evolves over time, like all good wines should. Overall, this wine is soft, with a complex interplay of
spice and fresh, young berry aromas.
Viticultural Notes: This wine is grown on a small, 2 1⁄2 acre, backyard vineyard, just 2 1⁄2 miles outside of Healdsburg, off
Eastside Road, in the Russian River Valley. Yields are kept to 2 to 3 tons per acres and we hand sort the fruit as it’s brought in by our own hand-pickers. The vineyard receives substantial fog and strong afternoon sun and the canopy is kept to a minimal level of coverage. Though the
grower does not have records, our research and the taste of the wine leads us to believe that all of
the budwood is from a Dijon clone, though we cannot be sure of which one. We harvest at between
25 and 26 degrees Brix.
Vinification Notes: Depending on the year, our harvest size is typically between 2 and 2 1⁄2 tons. The
grapes are de-stemmed and cold-soaked in four different lots. During the cold soak, sulfur dioxide
and cellar temperatures are used to suppress rogue, microbiological activity. Near the end of the
cold soak, the lots are exposed to the sun to provide the heat necessary for the feral yeasts to begin
spontaneous fermentation and the lots are mixed as necessary to spread this from lot to lot.
During vinification, no chemical adjustments are made: no acidification, no yeast nutrients, no
enzymes, no tannins, no texture enhancers – just nature doing its job and the wine expressing itself.
The only “additions” we ever perform are the use of oak, moderate amounts of sulfur dioxide to
ensure proper aging and, on rare occasions, we have added 5 to 15 gallons of water prior to
fermentation, representing 2-6% of total wine volume, to reduce final alcohol levels.
The wine is never fined and never filtered. We perform a limited amount of cold-stabilization, along
with aggressive racking to remove sediment. The wine is pressed using light fractions determined by
tasting at regular intervals during the pressing process. We use 20 to 25% new French oak and a
tiered treatment of older oak.
The bottles are hand-labelled by ourselves and whichever friend(s) we can conscript. We use
packaging that allows our customers can easily verify the condition of the cork, reduces
environmental impact and keep costs focused on the product inside the bottles. Labels are
designed by a friend and the back label text written by us. As the text on the back of our wine labels
has, on rare occasions, been known to alienate and/or offend others, we encourage that
wholesalers and retailers read it prior to carrying our wine. Cheers!
jam with a subtle hint of cola on the front of the palate. The mid-palate aroma is pure vanilla extract,
with pleasant acidity and a graceful backbone of tannins. The wine finishes with dried apricot and
tart, sour cherry preserves. As the wine opens, distinct pepper and spice aromas begin to
complement the other flavors from nose to finish. Or, at least those are the impressions I got the night
before reading this. Our wine is unfined and unfiltered. It is alive, so the flavor profile is dynamic and
evolves over time, like all good wines should. Overall, this wine is soft, with a complex interplay of
spice and fresh, young berry aromas.
Viticultural Notes: This wine is grown on a small, 2 1⁄2 acre, backyard vineyard, just 2 1⁄2 miles outside of Healdsburg, off
Eastside Road, in the Russian River Valley. Yields are kept to 2 to 3 tons per acres and we hand sort the fruit as it’s brought in by our own hand-pickers. The vineyard receives substantial fog and strong afternoon sun and the canopy is kept to a minimal level of coverage. Though the
grower does not have records, our research and the taste of the wine leads us to believe that all of
the budwood is from a Dijon clone, though we cannot be sure of which one. We harvest at between
25 and 26 degrees Brix.
Vinification Notes: Depending on the year, our harvest size is typically between 2 and 2 1⁄2 tons. The
grapes are de-stemmed and cold-soaked in four different lots. During the cold soak, sulfur dioxide
and cellar temperatures are used to suppress rogue, microbiological activity. Near the end of the
cold soak, the lots are exposed to the sun to provide the heat necessary for the feral yeasts to begin
spontaneous fermentation and the lots are mixed as necessary to spread this from lot to lot.
During vinification, no chemical adjustments are made: no acidification, no yeast nutrients, no
enzymes, no tannins, no texture enhancers – just nature doing its job and the wine expressing itself.
The only “additions” we ever perform are the use of oak, moderate amounts of sulfur dioxide to
ensure proper aging and, on rare occasions, we have added 5 to 15 gallons of water prior to
fermentation, representing 2-6% of total wine volume, to reduce final alcohol levels.
The wine is never fined and never filtered. We perform a limited amount of cold-stabilization, along
with aggressive racking to remove sediment. The wine is pressed using light fractions determined by
tasting at regular intervals during the pressing process. We use 20 to 25% new French oak and a
tiered treatment of older oak.
The bottles are hand-labelled by ourselves and whichever friend(s) we can conscript. We use
packaging that allows our customers can easily verify the condition of the cork, reduces
environmental impact and keep costs focused on the product inside the bottles. Labels are
designed by a friend and the back label text written by us. As the text on the back of our wine labels
has, on rare occasions, been known to alienate and/or offend others, we encourage that
wholesalers and retailers read it prior to carrying our wine. Cheers!
