Roy Piper 2021 Roy Piper Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir Surprise Release

WINE TALK
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This just hit my inbox and I’m definitely excited for next week.

I am very happy to announce the surprise release next week of our 2021 Roy Piper “Sanford & Benedict” Santa Rits Hills Pinot Noir!

This is the only Pinot we have made. The release date is February 27th.

Originally planted in 1971, Sanford & Benedict is the oldest vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, the coolest region of Santa Barbara wine country, even more chilly than The Sonoma Coast.

I vinified this Pinot Noir in the Burgundian style, following the winemaking techniques (as best I could) of Henri Jayer, the legendary Burgundian winemaker. Completely de-stemmed, fermented at 92-94F temps, punched down twice a day, this wine was aged on its lees in French Burgundian barrels (only 1/3 new) for 21 months without a single racking. Indigenous yeast, no fining or filtering.

The color is a translucent ruby. It is medium bodied, feminine, elegant, with aromas of red cherries, a powdery mineral note, with hints of orange peel and a sneaky, spicy finish. Only 13.6% alcohol, this has a noticeable acid spine that bodes for a nice, long life. It benefits strongly from 90-minutes decanted and should improve signigicantly over the next 5-7 years. I have little doubt it could use at least one more year in your cellar, but I am finding it difficult to keep my hands off it now. I suspect it will age longer than most Pinots out there.

I’d like to thank Erik Mallea (Sanford), Duncan Harmon (Terre et Sang), Joe Davis (Arcadian), and Catherine Kistler (Occidental Cellars), for their valuable viticulture and winemaking thoughts along the way.

If you are an active purchaser of our Cabernet, you are not required to buy this wine in order to receive your 2022 Cabernet offer later in the summer. If your preference is for the more full-throttle, fruit forward Pinots of The Russian River, this may not be the wine for you. However, if you enjoy Burgundian-styled Pinots with aging potential, a translucent color and of the food-friendly type, this might be to your liking!

The label is a self portrait by my wife, Jennifer, painted in 2012, the year we met. The label is made of linen to match the canvas, and the bottle is based on a Burgundy mold from 1859.

The wine will be released in waves, starting with current buyers in five days, on Febrary 27th. Given there are only 75 cases available, we expect a swift sellout. The price is $85 per bottle, sold in 3-packs, limit of one, with a wish for an additional 3-pack. Given there are only 900 bottles for 575 potential buyers, I worry this wine might sell out before everyone has a chance to purchase. If you would like this wine, I recommend you check your email and spam filters on release day. I am hoping to ship the wine in the next 2-3 weeks before it warms up.

In this video I discuss the wine in greater detail, give additional background, and offer a detailed tasting note as well.

If you have any questions, feel free to each out. Thanks so much! I hope you like this little one-off surprise. I sure had fun making this one.

https://vimeo.com/915435689

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Yes, this sounds like a must buy!

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Better be quick! Almost 600 purchasers for 300 3 packs

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I concur!

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I look forward to it!

Love his description.

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That’s a secret! LOL

And there are even cooler areas within SRH like a little more west towards the ocean (Radian & Bentrock) or top of the hill where Domaine de la Cote has a vineyard.

It’s cold there on a good day

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I do wonder if the Coastal SLO AVA has even cooler spots. Both Stolo and Phelan Farm are only 3 miles from the ocean.

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Get much colder than the top of the SRH and the vines don’t grow. Fog is an issue too hence the producer named “sea smoke”. I’ve visited Domaine de la Cote highest vineyard and the very highest rows were in trouble, 50 feet down the hill and they were much better.

Interestingly, David Phinney had planted vines above and more western exposed. There’s no way that site can produce fruit. Just looked it up called Bloodlines

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Certainly a buy for me.
Beautiful packaging also!

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Time for a Piper / Jayer side by side!

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Today I learned…

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Sea Smoke however is traditionally a layer over the water that looks like the water is evaporating.

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No issue ripening at sea smoke! Those things are like cherry syrup draped over vanilla cream in the most bombastic way

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It’s affectionately referred to as June gloom. In a nutshell the ocean is cold and the inland heats up and it sucks the moisture in then along the coast as fog or low clouds.

There can easily be 20° differences in temperature from the coast versus only 5 to 10 mi inland. I would imagine Lompoc and Los Olivos see that type of variation. @larry_schaffer help?

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I think the other issues with the Domaine de la Cote vineyards (all fairly close together) are the crappy soil and especially the wind. The Sta Rita Hills appellation is mostly two valleys (along 246 or Santa Rosa Road) with some steep hills separating the two. the DdlC vineyards are towards the very west end of the central hills so they get a direct hit from the afternoon winds depending on the shelter from the landscape.

Sea Smoke is down lower on the slopes of the central hills, closer to the Santa Ynez river than runs in the valley, also further east and more sheltered. Radian, Bentrock, Sanford and Benedict are on the slops of the hills on the other side of that little valley. Sanford and Benedict is on the lower slope of those hills (the Santa Rosa hills), with Radian extending quite high up to the top, although most of it is intermediate elevation.

-Al

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There is lots of diatomaceous earth which is nutrient free. Silt and clay, tough stuff. Not a lot of organic matter.

There is/was a diatomaceous earth quarry right around there.

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The marine layer they see in the Sta Rita Hills is pretty extensive most of the time, but because of the transverse mountain range that is the Sta Rita Hills, the fog actually follows the Santa Ynez River and extends well into Solvang as well (I see it pretty much every morning).

The temperature shift is pretty dramatic, but tends to happen over a 20-5 mile range - if you drive from Happy Canyon towards the Sta Rita Hills, within those 20-25 miles, you’ll see the temps drop by about a degree a mile. That’s what allows our relatively small growing area to produce world class bordeaux wines (especially Sauv Blanc right now but reds are on the rise) as well as world class chardonnays, pinots and now sparkling wines - and everything in between

Cheers

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Yes, lots of diatomaceous earth particularly in that part of the Sta Rita Hills. The quarry is farther west, directly south of Lompoc. It’s very easy to see on Google satellite view or Google Earth. At Radian, the amount of diatomaceous earth increases as you travel up in elevation, very crappy soil near the top.

Some of us visited the quarry on a tour arranged by Peter Cargasacchi. It’s blindingly bright in the sun.

The Sanford & Benedict vineyard has the old Sanford Barn, also the original tasting room in sort of a shack near the barn. It was also later the Alma Rosa tasting room. Appears in the Sideways film, the first place Miles and Jack stop to taste, with Chris (the actual Sanford tasting room manager) pouring for them.

-Al

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Where is Chris now? Last I ran into him was at Mosby which has since sold and changed names. Good guy.

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I’m not sure where Chris Burroughs is working these days, I haven’t spent as much time in the area in recent years and there have been a lot of changes.

-Al