Tasting Notes:
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Pain-Perdu came together in the winter of 2023 when Jim and Elizabeth Poett, sixth and seventh generation owners of Rancho San Julian, who planted ten acres by sélection massale from the Hyde de Villaine Vineyard in Carneros, along with Michael Dierberg, of Drum Canyon Vineyard, and Matt Dees, winemaker at The Hilt Estate, which owns Bentrock Vineyard, all agreed to join Fabien Castel in this remarkable collaboration. Each “land steward” tending vineyards with fascinating micro-climatic and geologic influences, and resulting fruit characteristics that Fabien could imagine as single-vineyard wines, or as critical components of a blend.
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California has a rich history of vine growing beginning in 1769 when Padre Junipero Serra is believed to have brought vinifera cuttings with him from Mexico, when he established the Mission San Diego. With the secularization of the Franciscan missions in 1830, commercial winegrowing was established throughout the state, though on a fairly small scale. With a large influx of European immigrants during, and after the "Gold Rush," vines were planted everywhere. In 1862, the French Revue Viticole reported that California was "...capable of entering competition with the wines of Europe." Santa Barbara is a large county (as well as a beautiful small city) at the southern end of California's "Central Coast." Wine was first planted in this area in the mid-1770s, and a handful of commercial wineries did business here in the 19th Century. Sta. Rita Hills AVA lies within the broader Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. These rolling east-west hills running between Lompoc and Buellton benefit from cooling Pacific Ocean fogs in the morning, and coastal breezes that funnel through during the sunny afternoons. The area has become known for its Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines that all benefit from the unique micro-climate.
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The Pinot Noir grape is an ancient variety that has been grown for nearly two-thousand years in Burgundy, and is also famous for producing high-quality red wines around the world. This variety is known as being difficult to farm, due to its sensitivity to climatic conditions, such as wind and frost. The thin skins and tight conical grape bunches of Pinot Noir also make it susceptible to fungus and mildew. Some of the finest Pinot Noir wines are produced in cooler climate areas, and are characterized by a light body and complex aromas of earthiness and fruit.
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