Expressive dark cherry, wood smoke, fresh black raspberry. Cranberry concentrate, pine sap, blueberry skin. Young iris and violet petal, dry leaves and English Breakfast tea. High toned, bold, and fleshy fruit spills with unrestrained fervor, showcasing fragrant pomegranate and candied rhubarb that is simultaneously quite ripe and tart. Slowly the deep fruit and floral notes recede to reveal forest tones and herbs, as rich loam and brown mushroom collide with tree bark and burning sage. A touch of oak provides the finale as pretty nutmeg, clove, and roast coffee bean do their best to soften up firm ashy tannin and prominent acidity. This 2016 SHV Russian River Valley Pinot Noir by Vokel Cellars is a structured, deep, and characterful micro-production Pinot.

Ultra-small production wines can be an absolute joy to discover and experience. These wines are almost always hand crafted with exceptional care and often provide unique expressions of their respective terroir and varietal in a way that is impossible to scale. This bottling, crafted by Vokel Cellars using Pinot Noir sourced from the Russian River Valley, is a fantastic example of the magic of micro-production. Only 720 bottles of this stuff were ever made, the equivalent of just over 2 barrels, and the resulting wine exhibits a tremendously unique and distinct personality. It is fruit forward and expansive in typical RRV style yet it possesses a wonderful underlying sense of sauvage often found in some of the worlds best examples of the grape. This is an extremely interesting bottle of wine made all the more impactful by its scarcity - as few others will get to enjoy the same great experience.