Region/Origin:	Santa Maria Valley
	Residual Sugar:	Dry
	Total Acid:	0.72 %
	Alcohol:	14.6%
	Final pH:	3.58
	Blend:	100% Pinot Noir

Smack in the centre between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Santa Maria Valley in the Central Coast area, has a high reputation for their Pinot Noir. And this Pinot doesn't disappoint. Instead it applauds loudly with vibrancy and excitement. Certainly a New World style, Byron has created an ever-enjoyable wine that tantalizes the taste buds. With our very good friends, Ivan & Ellen, over for a simple mid week dinner, we sampled this Pinot with a Portobello Mushroom Ciabatta with funnel, bacon in a garlic aioli. Now that's a different burger! Well, the wine was simply delicious. Soft yet mouthfilling, the wine gave off aromas of cherries, and plum with deep concentration of black berries with hints of cloves and nutmeg. The texture was rich and while the winemaker suggests some bottle age, we all agreed that this wine was just simply too beautiful now.

Vintage

The 1999 vintage in Santa Maria Valley will be remembered for its record cool temperatures, exceptionally late harvest and light crop yields. A cool spring and summer delayed the maturation cycle in the vineyard by as much as four to six weeks. Cluster and berry size were well below normal and crop production was down by 45 to 60 percent. The average number of days from bloom to harvest was 112 days. This long hang time fostered enhanced flavours and concentration in the Pinot Noir grapes and promoted fully developed seed and skin tannins, ensuring richness and complexity with no bitterness.

Vineyard

The Nielson Vineyard is the cradle of Santa Maria Valley viticulture. Chosen for its cool climate and lean soils, the site was planted by pioneer, Uriel Nielson in 1964 and became the region’s first commercial vineyard. It was acquired by Byron in 1989 and in 1991 an extensive experimental vineyard program covering almost 100 acres was launched. Nearly a decade later, we have been able to pinpoint the ideal clones, rootstocks and planting density to produce the highest quality Pinot Noir. Replanting continues in selected vineyard blocks using the most successful clones, including Dijon clones 115, 667 and 777. Each year the wines display greater complexity and concentration and richer, more opulent texture—an important goal of the research/redevelopment program.

Fermentation & Aging

Crafting Pinot Noir at Byron is an integration of old-world tradition and modern technology. After hand-sorting three times, the grapes were crushed at the upper level of our gravity flow winery and dropped directly into moveable open top fermenters below. There the grapes received three to five days of pre-fermentation maceration to develop fruit character, colour and body. Most lots were fermented with native yeasts to enhance vineyard expression. Maceration time averaged 18 days. The wine aged 14 months in 60-gallon French oak barrels, including 30% new oak, and was cellared in our temperature and humidity controlled barrel rooms.