Ghostwriter Pinot Noir Aptos Creek 2015
VINTAGE : 2015
COUNTRY : USA
REGION/APPELLATION : California, Santa Cruz Mountains
VARIETALS : Pinot Noir
VINEYARD : Aptos Creek
Cases Produced : 75
It will be bittersweet when I sell out of this wine as it’s the first large purchase I took a chance on with Albatross and I’d say it was a good call. Not sure there are many pinots that deliver at this price point from such a heralded vineyard site and such a cool winemaker.
"The Aptos Creek Vineyard is hidden in the Forest of Nisene Marks near the Village of Aptos. Vines were planted in the early 90s on this very sandy site that sits barely above sea level and near the bay. Like most of the Ghostwriter sites, this one is cool and foggy most of the growing season and very marginal. We don’t know what clones are here or where they came from, but the result is tiny bb size berries on golf ball size clusters.
The Aptos Creek is dependably the most dark and brooding of the Ghostwriter Pinot Noirs. The wine can be quickly overstated with stem usage or any kind of extended maceration so we try to keep the fermentation quick, cool, and gentle. Natural tannin do seem to lend themselves to some new oak so we use about 10% new oak from the Jupille and Troncais forests."