Robert Parker: The 2009 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard is the biggest and richest of the 2009s. It boasts stunning depth in its dark fruit, licorice, spices and sweet balsamic notes. Layers of fruit totally saturate the palate as this utterly majestic Pinot opens up in the glass. The sheer depth and nuance of the Jensen is simply breathtaking. Readers will have to be patient, as the Jensen is very much built for the cellar. It is an American classic to savor and enjoy to age 20 and perhaps beyond. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029.
2009 Jensen possesses a deep, rich garnet hue. Luscious aromas of cranberry, violets,
granite, turmeric and raspberry torte mix with an alluring bouquet of peppery nutmeg
and black cherry. This fascinating wine offers flavors of baking spice, ripe strawberries,
rhubarb pie, chalky minerality and sweet berry wrapped around a juicy, elegant core of
fine grained tannins, then trails off to a long, pleasurable finish.
| Wine maker notes |
| Moderate summer temperatures gave us an ideal growing season in 2009 to hang the fruit
to our desired ripeness. The Jensen Vineyard was picked as four separate lots starting on
September 24th through October 8th. The wines were pressed after 14 days and racked by
gravity to barrels following overnight settling. They were then aged without racking in
François Freres barrels, 30% new, for sixteen months. The barrels were combined prior to
bottling and the wine was bottled unfiltered. |
