Aptos Vineyard’s premier wine, 2018 Pinot Noir, Opening Remarks, combines earthy elements and an elegant winemaking style to craft this well-made, Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains. This wine is 100% Pinot Noir with 667 and Swan clones.
The forest is present in the aromas and palate of this wine: oak forest, exposed madrone, whispering presence of redwood. Embrace the sage aroma, common to the Summit region, and oak that bursts into summer fruits and creamy textures.
Enjoy full-bodied flavors of: field flowers, red summer fruits (light raspberry, delicate plum skin), sage, oak, spice box, vanilla bean, and creamy nuts. Linger in the finish with cherry fruit, light oak, tannins, and fresh dryness on the back of the tongue.
Aromas of heavy floral perfume arrive as the wine intertwines with air. This wine evolves as days pass. Enjoy a glass when opened, then leave on the counter and enjoy the second day. Air makes it softer, creamier, and evolves from forest floor to floral field.
Pair this wine with soft cheeses, red berries, chicken, pork, and mushrooms. Wine is best enjoyed in big, globe glasses with family, close friends, and stimulating conversation or quiet, golden hour (bonus with an ocean breeze).
Our wines are named after courtroom jargon to honor Judge Marlo’s career in the judicial system. This Pinot Noir is named Opening Remarks, as it is the first procedure in a courtroom and, for us, is the newest vintage in the next era for Aptos Vineyard.
Winemaker John Benedetti’s (Sante Arcangeli Family Wines) style appears throughout this wine. The deep cherry color of Corralitos and Aromas, the smell of Summit sage, the crisp velvet sensation when sipped that brightens to a fruit-driven Pinot Noir.
Straddling the Summit and Soquel Hills at 1,500ft in the Santa Cruz Mountains, cultivated fruit from DaLarDi Vineyard embodies similar characteristics to the popular Split Rail Vineyard of the same appellation. With vines planted in 2013, a youthful DaLarDi sits above the coastal fog belt, along with oak and madrone that line the vineyard. This location was selected because its terroir produces classic Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir fruit.
