Tasting Notes

This is the first Pinot Noir produced by  JM Cellars.  In the spring of 2020, Tommy Bigelow was working for Bill Harlan’s Napa Valley Reserve when head winemaker, Marco Gressi, told Tom that an acre of some his favorite Pinot Noir was recently made available - the Pommard clone from notable Doña Margarita Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA.  Marco thought John might be interested in taking the contract for JM Cellars’ wine program; John secured the acre of Pinot Noir that week.  The Pommard clone originates from the village of Pommard in Burgundy, France.  John and Peggy visited Doña Margarita in summer of 2020, setting up logistics to harvest the Pinot on September 5th and have it delivered to JM’s production site in Maltby on the morning of September 7 via a 45 degree, refrigerated semi.  When the back of the truck was opened, a beautiful aroma of fresh strawberries confirmed that the grapes were in great shape and ready to be made into wine.  Carefully destemming, foot-stomping, and fermenting the Pinot in a large French oak tank, 3/4 of the wine was then aged in French oak barrels (30% new and 70% once used),and  ¼ was aged in a clay amphora.  The French oak-aged Pinot is the wine in your allocation  (170 cases produced).  The Pinot aged in the Amphora (96 cases produced) will be made available to wine-club-members only. John and Peggy were so happy with the results that they secured another contract and picked the 2021 vintage on September 15th.

Featured Vineyards

Doña Margarita Vineyard

AVA

Sonoma Coast

Blend

100% Pinot Noir (Pommard Clone)

Fermentation

Hand picked/hand sorted/whole berry fermented in French oak tanks

Aging

Clay amphora aged for 9 months then oak barrel aged for 2 months.  

Drinking Guide

Now through 2028

Alcohol

14.5%

Sugar

None

Case Production

96 cases produced