2019 Poe Pinot Meunier "Van Der Kamp Vineyard", Sonoma County, California, USA

ABOUT THE WINE:

The Pinot Meunier was picked on August 24th of 2016 and fermented in neutral French oak barrels with native yeast and without sulfur.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:

The Van der Kamp Vineyard lies at the very top of the eastern side of Sonoma Mountain, at a 1,400 foot elevation looking down on the town of Glen Ellen to the east and Bennett Valley to the northwest. Sonoma Mountain was once part of the Pacific Ocean floor, and thus has a patchwork of diverse soils, from Speckles loam, Volcanic Tuff and decomposed streambed. Sonoma Mountain itself has been inhabited for thousands of years, and Van der Kamp has been farmed for well over one hundred. The Marin and Sonoma tribe, the Coast Miwok, believed that the top of the mountain was where life first began, as they thought the world was born from the ocean floor. The Van der Kamp vineyard and surrounding areas were an important religious site, and still are to this day.

Van der Kamp was planted in 1953, making it the oldest Pinot Noir vines (still producing) in California. The 2.7 acre block of Pinot Meunier was planted in the early 1990s. We divide our rows between our still rosé, sparkling Pinot Meunier rosé (which is made in a Champagne method), and our still red – of which we make a minuscule amount.