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Rollerblades to the Hitching Post
Sorry we missed some of you yesterday. Blame it on jet lag, coupled with an impossible schedule here on the Cote de Nuits. We're not sure who planned this trip, but someone should buy them rollerblades and roll them right out of HQ.
Our story today, fittingly, is all about exquisite, single vineyard Pinot Noir -- albeit from the extravagant 2007 vintage on the Santa Barbara coast, 6,000 miles from our breakfast table here in Puligny Montrachet. But somehow, after yesterday's cellar hopping, talking Pinot Noir magic with the likes of Louis Boillot, Ghislaine Barthod and the inimitable Christophe Roumier, these brilliant, gently chiseled 2007 Hitching Post Pinots are even more perfectly in focus.
After a frigid winter on the coast that made for late bud break and flowering, an exceedingly dry spring piled on, shrinking yields by 30%. In the case of the coldest, most rigorously farmed spots, it would be closer to 40%. In a growing season further drawn out by a spectacular Indian summer, the tiny berry clusters wouldn't hit the Hitching Post crushers until the first week of October.
For those of you who are coastal Pinot Noir collectors, but have never tasted these gorgeously sculpted, tiny production Hitching Post bottlings, we're not terribly surprised. We were first introduced to Frank Ostini and Gray Hartley's work twenty years ago, after a heads up from Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat. Hitching Post has put out a small handful of 3-12 barrel cult Pinot Noirs since 1980, none as extravagant as these 2007s off prized Julia's in Santa Maria and Fiddlestix Vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills.
"The berries were the smallest we'd ever seen," Ostini told us, pointing to his left hand. "No bigger than the tip of your baby finger. Sugars were high. Usually when we see that much concentration, acids drop. Not in 2007. We had it all. Sugar, backbone, thick skins. The works. In a crazy way, having so much was a challenge we'd never faced before."
Some on the coast went for the gusto, as certain new school enologists are now suggesting in Burgundy. They dropped the temperature during fermentation, stretching it out, drawing off massive color, density and chewiness -- but also plenty of tannic astringency from those thick skins. Hartley and Ostini talked it over, pushing back and forth. But in the end, Ostini told us, "We were like-minded. Pinot Noir isn't Cabernet Sauvignon. We like richness, but not at the expense of delicacy and elegance. We kept the temperature around 55 degrees. The fermentation lasted just a week. The color was still incredibly dark. There was tons of structure. Then we just barreled it down and waited. It really took a couple years in bottle for these wines to come back and show off what we first saw at harvest."
In what's turned out to be the most storied harvest on the coast in decades, both the Julia's and Fiddlestix Pinot Noirs were massive when we first tasted them in barrel. Now, after almost 4 years of bottle age, they remain fabulously voluptuous, but all of the extravagance of the vintage -- the monumental concentration, superb acid backbone, remarkably low pH high-toned juiciness, and fine tannic structure -- is finally in perfect harmony.
Just 300 bottles remain of the 8-barrel production of each wine. Available only in 6-packs and 12s -- an equal number of each single vineyard bottling. $42/bottle if you're on the Hitching Post mailing list. Something far more mouthwatering today on this rare WineAccess exclusive.
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Tasting Notes
2007 Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Winery Pinot Noir Julia's Santa Maria Valley
"Bright red. Energetic strawberry and raspberry scents are complicated by notes of rose, woodsmoke and spicecake. Shows deeper cherry and black raspberry on the palate, which repeats the smoky notes. Gains power with air and finishes with youthful tannic grip and sweet persistence."
90 points -- Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar
2007 Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Winery Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Sta. Rita Hills
"Light, bright red. High-pitched aromas of strawberry, raspberry and rose, with a strong mineral quality lending vivacity. Light and fresh on the palate, offering tangy red berry, blood orange and spice flavors and a numbing note of white pepper. Refreshingly pure pinot with bracing snap to the nicely persistent finish."
90 points -- Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar
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*Important Shipping Information
- Orders will begin shipping the week of June 18, 2012.
- You will be provided with the exact shipment date during checkout.
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