The Meyer Family are of course best known for their Napa Valley (Oakville) Cabernets, including a pair from their famed Bonny’s Vineyard. Justin Meyer was the founder and original winemaker for Silver Oak.
But when we did a big tasting of all their wines, the 2016 Peterson Pinot Noir stole the show. And this amazingly pure and beautiful 2018 is even finer. Plus, in Justin Meyer’s favored style, it’s only 12.9% alcohol – but so full of flavor!
This superb Anderson Valley vineyard (also the top site for Anthill Farms) really capitalized on this greatest of Pinot Noir vintages. Indeed, Vinous rated the Anthill Farms version 96 points – and having very much enjoyed that wine, I can say we like this Meyer Family version even more!
The winery says:
Due to its proximity to the coast, this Comptche Pinot Noir normally exhibits cool-climate characteristics, 2018 was a long and leisurely ripening year. The cool summer imparted red currant, blueberries, and a bit of funk and leather to the palate. A couple of warm weeks in early August added some ripe cherry, dried fruit, and perfume notes. We find this wine is particularly fun to decant and watch as it develops over a couple hours.
Winemaking Notes
The grapes were harvested early in the morning, then brought to the winery and hand-sorted. They were destemmed into half ton inventors and allowed to cold soak for a week, punched down twice a day during that period. Once inoculated, punch downs continued until the wine was pressed a few days before fermentation completed. Once primary fermentation ended, the Pinot was transferred to barrel and stirred once a month until malolactic fermentation was complete. The wine not found to need any fining and was bottled nine months later.