2022 Crawford Family Pinot Noir, Spear Vineyard

The 2022 vintage was a tricky one.  We had a very short winter season with good rain but cold temperatures did not last long and a relatively early bud break resulted.  A long and cool spring was followed by a summer that continued to be cool and mild.  Normally that would be make for a great growing season with increased concentration and vibrant acidity, but it left us behind in ripening the whole summer.   That’s when Mother Nature decided to throw a wrench in the program.  In late August we had a protracted heat spike that shot sugars up and made for a frantic picking season.  Our Pinot Noir from Spear was picked on the early side but still managed to develop and good amount of sugar.  We did our standard Pinot Noir processing with one third of the fruit left whole cluster and all of it treated very gently in the winery.  I am thrilled with how this wine came out.  It is very light in color but don’t be fooled, once it hits your palate there is terrific richness and the impression of the stems is spot on.