Poe Pinot Noir Van der Kamp 2018

We are thrilled to get our hands on this gem. Samantha Sheehan’s POE label is on fire, and her old-vine pinot is normally reserved for her mailing list, but today is a good day! $39.95 is an incredible price for some of the oldest pinot noir vines in the states! While it is hard to conclude for certain, it is believed that these are the oldest continually producing pinot noir vines in the USA! Perched on top of Sonoma Mountain at 1,500 feet, they were planted the same year as the first color TV went on sale! This happened to be the same year that James D. Zellerbach of Hanzell planted pinot noir just a handful of miles southeast Van der Kamp. Hanzell’s Ambassador block and the old vines at Van der Kamp are thought to be the two oldest continually producing pinot vineyards in the country. Samantha Sheehan is the first to say she got very lucky to get her hands on these little treasures of California history. Her main goal is to let the organically farmed vineyard do the work it was born and bred to do. That means night picks, native ferments, a bit of foot treading through fermentation, then hands off once it goes to barrel. The resulting wine is tightly wound, concentrated and jam packed with the briar patch, wild herbs and spice. The flavors are staining and mouth coating with complex textures and minerals that only super old-vines can bring. Deeply structured, I mean DEEPLY, and more reminiscent of a premier cru Nuits Saint Georges than a Sonoma pinot. Decant this for a couple hours or taste it on day two after opening and watch it evolve into something mind melting.