Marine Layer Lyra Pinot Noir 2021 750ml

"Lyra” is one of the oldest and brightest constellations found in the California summer sky, arriving as the vines awaken back to life and departing at harvest. It presides with a watchful eye over the evolution of our Pinot Noir vineyards as they progress through their annual cycle from bud to flower to grape.

The 2021 Lyra Pinot Noir is a barrel selection from some of our favorite vineyard sites within the Sonoma Coast AVA. The 2021 blend is predominantly comprised of Pinot Noir from the Marine Layer Vineyard (44%) and the Dutton-Gravenstein Vineyard (39%), both of which lie in the Sebastopol Hills sub-AVA. The blend also includes small lots from the Whistler and Walala Vineyards from the north Sonoma Coast sub-AVA of Annapolis, small lots of Grand Vent and Gap's Crown Vineyards from the south Sonoma Coast sub-AVA of Petaluma Gap, and a touch of Dutton-Jentoft Vineyard from the west Sonoma Coast sub-AVA of Green Valley.

Fruit harvested by hand in early September. Hand-sorted and gently de-stemmed to keep whole berries intact, with 35% whole-cluster inclusion. Three to four-day cold soak under dry ice to preserve freshness. Native yeast fermentation in two 5 ton open-top tanks with gentle pumpovers and manual punchdowns at peak fermentation. After three weeks on the skins, wine was gravity drained overnight and barreled down for malolactic. Wine aged for 11 months in 25% new oak until gently racked off of lees, and the blend assembled. Bottled unfined and lightly filtered.