2007 Eye of the Swan Pinot Noir Rose
Winery Exclusive Selection

The Vineyard
The ever-popular Eye of the Swan is so named because the color of this wine reminded August Sebastiani of the eye of a black swan. This wine was first produced back in the mid-70s. The Pinot Noir grapes sourced for this unique wine came from an old vines block of our estate vineyard in Carneros and from Southern Alexander Valley. The Rousanne portion came from our Estate vineyards in Carneros.


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The Vintage:

The 2007 vintage was temperate with longer hang time for Pinot Noir. We picked the warmer vineyard spots in mid-September, whereas the Carneros wasn’t picked until early October. There was more color to this blush wine due to unusually darker color for Pinot Noir.

Winemaking
We fermented the Alexander Valley portion as “saignet” or bleeding off of the clear juice from the tank, which helped to concentrate the Pinot for red production. The Carneros portion was whole cluster pressed. The combination gave us spicy Pinot Noir flavor but with nice, strawberry fruit. The coppery hue-colored, free run juice was cold-settled, racked off of its lees and fermented in stainless steel tanks for 25 days. After dryness, the wine was blended with Rousanne to add more body and complexity, as is classically done for Champagne in France.
Winemaker's Notes
This pretty pink-colored wine is a perennial favorite. The 2007 vintage provided us fruit with lots of spicy, Pinot fruit. The nose has lots of yeasty, cherry aromas, and it has a nice weight on the tongue. It finishes with crisp Blanc de Noir flavors and pairs nicely with turkey or other lighter entrees!
 
Mark R. Lyon, Winemaker
Technical Data
Appellation: Sonoma County Composition: 88.5% Pinot Noir, 11.5% Rousanne
TA: 0.50 g/100ml Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar: 0.98% pH: 3.36
Bottling Date: November 2007 Release Date: November 2007
 

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