Tondre Grapefield is the result of Tondre Alarid’s desire to establish a vineyard, and his son Joe Alarid’s resolve to produce world-class wine grapes. The vineyard is next door to Garys’ Vineyard on the east facing terrace of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Northwest-southeast orientated rows take advantage of daily fog and wind events from the Monterey Bay.

The growing season started slowly in 2009; cool, wet weather in late spring delayed the fruit by 5 - 10 days. August was more temperate, with less fog than normal. Warm weather allowed sugars to catch-up, but not necessarily flavor. Patience was key in determining when to harvest. We harvested the lots for this bottling between September 15th and 21st.

The grapes were completely destemmed after hand sorting. Native yeasts started the whole berry fermentation in small open top tanks. Manual punch downs produced a wine with supple texture and soft tannins. The wine was transferred to French oak barrels, 50% new, for malo-lactic fermentation and 10 months of aging. The ‘09 Tondre Pinot Noir is a blend Dijon clones 943, 115, 828 & 777.

The nose is a beautiful combination of raspberries and grape jollyrancher, highlighted by dried herbs and early grey tea. Dried cherry, fig and violets seamlessly transition from nose to the palate. Perfectly balanced acidity makes this wine extremely food friendly, pairing especially well with grilled mahi-mahi and salmon as well as roast chicken and Beef Bourgogne.