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2012 Horseshoe Bend Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
Soul Patch, Estate Grown

The Soul Patch Vineyard is our Estate Vineyard. It's our home, and our Heart and Soul radiates from this hillside vineyard that Guy planted in 1996. Like all three of our Vineyard Designate sites it is an East facing slope, so it basks in the gentle morning sun as it burns off the thick Pacific Ocean fog; and dodges the harsh afternoon sun, leaving the clusters with their bright natural acidity and layers of beautiful aromas and flavors. This Soul Patch Pinot Noir is a Barrel Selection of our favorite barrels each vintage, a blend that creates the perfect balance between richness and elegance which makes it so special.

Awards and Accolades

2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair: Double Gold
Robert Parker - "The 2013 Pinot Noir Soul Patch shows a deep ruby/purple color and is a fairly dense and concentrated wine for Pinot. It has a big, beefy, black cherry, almost chocolaty nose along with earth and spice. This beauty should age nicely for another decade." -90 points



In the Vineyard:
Guy and Judy Davis purchased the property on which Soul Patch vineyard is planted in 1996. Guy planted the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah and he and his son Cole have farmed the vineyard since its purchase, in addition to the existing block of Old Vine Zinfandel. Only organic, earth friendly farming practices are used on their estate vineyard. The reasoning for this is simple; not only is this better for the planet and the consumer, but ultimately creates a more layered and complex wine.

The Soul Patch vineyard is on an eastern facing hillside in the heart of the Russian River Valley, with vineyard rows running north to south. This positioning is important because it allows the vineyard to benefit from the gentle heat of the morning sun, while being shielded form the harsh afternoon sun. All of the vineyard rows running north to south ensures that all of the fruit gets equal exposure to the sun. The soil is Goldridge series, with very high amounts of volcanic ash. This adds a beautiful minerality to each vintage, one of the highlights of the amazing complexity from our estate vineyard.

There are 7 acres planted to Pinot Noir on Soul Patch vineyard at the top of the eastern facing hillside. Guy planted a combination of Pommard clone, and Dijon clones 777, 667 and 115.


In the Winery:
At Davis Family Vineyards we strive to highlight the unique characteristics that make fruit from each vineyard, from each varied mico-climate, so very special and unique. All of our Pinot Noir is aged in French oak for 10 months. 1/3 of the barrels are new, 1/3 are one year old, and 1/3 are 2 year old. In doing so, we are able to benefit from the finesse and structure of barrel aging, while not overwhelming the varietal characteristics of Pinot Noir.

Guy tastes through and then hand selects his favorite barrels for the single vineyard bottling of the Soul Pacth Pinot Noir. The remaining barrels are then used in our Russian River Valley blend.

The fermentation was conducted using native yeast in small, temperature controlled, open top fermentors. Gentle punch downs were done over a 3-4 week fermentation, after a 5-7 day cold soak. The Pinot is then pressed and transferred directly into barrel, using gravity flow.