2017 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir originates from the Russian River Valley, named for the east-west river that flows into the Pacific Ocean. It’s one of the most famous Californian wine regions, and the names of the local producers read like a who’s who in California Pinot Noir: Gary Farrell, Rochioli, Joseph Swan, Dehlinger, and several others.
Russian River Valley and Pinot Noir
As Miles said in the “Sideways” movie: “It’s a hard grape to grow… It’s thin-skinned, temperamental. It’s not a survivor… It can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world.”
Russian River Valley is one of those tucked away corners where Pinot Noir thrives. The unique combination of the river, ocean, and geography is conducive to almost daily fog here. As many vineyards are in the fog zone, it limits sunshine hours per day and ensures a long growing season.
The finicky Pinot Noir loves it. It wants the sun but not too much. It needs water but only at the perfect time. It wants breeze but not too strong.
Yes, “it’s not a survivor,” as Miles said. But if it gets perfect, it gives perfect, that’s my quote.
Garry Farrell Winery
Garry Farrell was one of the Pioneers of Russian River Valley in the 1980s when it wasn’t even an AVA. Since the inaugural 1985 release of 55 cases of 1982 Rochioli-Allen Pinot Noir, Garry’s wines earned critical acclaim.
Since 2012, winemaker Theresa Heredia, a champion of cool-climate Pinot Noir, continues to maintain Garry Farrell’s approach to winemaking with the same focus on pure varietal expression.
Garry Farrell Pinot Noir 2017 Tasting Notes
Garry Farrell Pinot Noir 2017 is 100% Pinot Noir blend from some of the Russian River Valleys top vineyards with varied climates and unique characteristics. The Hop Kiln, Rochioli, and Bacigalupi are foggy yet warmest sights in the blend and contribute more structure and body. Toboni and Nonella are foggier and cooler. Finally, Hallberg
and Dutton vineyards are even more extreme and coolest sources of the grapes in the blend.
The interesting fact about the harvest is that it started on the day of the total eclipse, August 21st, and wrapped up on the Autumn Equinox, September 22nd.
Grapes were harvested in the cool morning hour and hand-sorted at the winery. Fermentation took place in small tanks with open tops. Most of the grapes were de-stemmed with a small percentage of the whole-cluster fruit added later. Before the fermentation started, the grapes were chilled down to 45°F and went through cold soak for 4-7 days.
After fermentation was complete, the new wine and skins and stems were allowed to sit in the tank together for another 7-10 days. It helped to soften the tannins and for the primary fermentation esters to develop more complexity. After a gentle press, the wine was racked (pumped unfiltered) into 35% new French oak barrels and aged on primary lees (tiny particles not removed by the filter) for ten months. And voila!
In the Glass
2017 Garry Farrell Pinot Noir has a beautiful ruby color. It felt a little tight when we poured in the glass, and it needed some time to open up to show off its aromas.
Its cool climate origin was apparent in the mushroom, forest floor, and a bit barnyard aromas. Then the warmer sight fruit took over with black cherry. We also detected some tomato stem notes, probably, due to the use of whole-cluster grapes. New French oak came through with a hint of vanilla and smoke.
It felt richer with ripe strawberry and sour cherry, vanilla, cherry pit, and vanilla on the palate.
Finish
We felt this wine is still young and has years ahead of itself to evolve and acquire more complexity. We loved the cool-climate character on the nose that reminded us of excellent Burgundies. On the other hand, the stemy-green notes were getting in the way of fruit on the nose.
The fruit-forward palate added to what was missing on the nose, and yet the some may find that cherry bitters note on the finish a bit overwhelming.
Overall, we liked the 2017 Garry Farrell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and its cool climate mushroomy-foresty notes with a touch of a cherry pit on the palate. To us, it makes for a more complex wine with a promise of greatness in years to come. We look forward to tasting it again in five to eight years.
Probably, what made us a bit more attuned to small imperfections is that we were comparing it to a few older wines from Willamette Valley of Oregon during our Pinot Noir Wineswinging Tasting. Besides, we must admit that some geographical bias might be at play since we live an hour away from Willamette Valley.
