Spear Vineyard, and its owner Ofer Shepher, are a big part of why this wine is so darn good.  Ofer’s relentless pursuit of pristine fruit from his Santa Rita Hills vineyard can be seen in the glass.  This was our first year working with Pinot Noir at Spear and we couldn’t be happier with the result.    The wine is certainly on the light side, but the intense Pinot Noir aromatics and mouth feel just scream varietal character and I love looking for the subtle nuances in a wine like this.   It was produced in the same manner as our other Pinot Noirs…in small, 1.5-ton fermenters with 1/3 of the fruit left whole cluster.  Gentle daily punch downs and gently pressed to tank followed by a year in neutral French oak barrels.