ARISTA FERRINGTON VINEYARD 2018 PINOT NOIR

Arista Winery was founded by the McWilliams family in 2002 with a mission to create the most elegant expression of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The core principle of the winemaking approach at Arista is the capture and expression of the character and potential of the vineyard. Every Arista Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is fermented using only the unique mix of naturally occurring yeast populations that reside in each of our vineyards and arrive at the winery on the grapes on the day of harvest. The resulting fermentations are gentle, gradual, cool and quite slow, but result in wines that have incredible complexity, unique personalities and are exquisitely expressive of their sites.

The Ferrington Vineyard, one of California’s most acclaimed Pinot Noir Vineyards, sells to eight wineries and is tucked away just off Highway 128 in Booneville, a small town in the heart of the Anderson Valley. Though 25 acres of the vineyard are planted to multiple clones of Pinot Noir, we have selected a block in the vineyard that was planted to the Pommard clone because of its proven legacy in this cold climate appellation. Pommard is one of the oldest Pinot Noir clones found in California and is favored by many winemakers for its ability to produce outstanding wines without the help of other blending clones. It is respected for its reliable color, intense fruit, and fragrant spice components. The vineyard has a gentle south-facing slope, and has decomposed sandstone and clay soils with three to four feet of topsoil. This vineyard was originally planted in the late 1960s although some of the 25 acres of Pinot Noir vines were planted in 1998 and some more recently.