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Varietal
Pinot Noir
Vintage
2015
The Loch
Vintage
2015
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
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Tasting NotesFrom its rich, alluring color to its floral and cedar aromas, lush, dense fruit and lovely grip, the 2015 vintage of The Loch is a stunning Pinot Noir. Fascinating and eminently age-worthy, it slowly unfurls in gorgeous layers of plum, cocoa, cassis, pomegranate and blueberry, all underscored by expressive notes of cinnamon spice.
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Accolades94 Points: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines – “The medium ruby- purple colored 2015 Pinot Noir The Loch has a lovely fragrance of kirsch, red roses and baking spices with hints of raspberry tart, potpourri, fallen leaves and truffles. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm frame of fine-grained tannins and great freshness lifting the intense red fruit flavors, finishing long and perfumed.” – Lisa Perrotti-Brown, April 2018, Wine Advocate 91 Points, Cellar Selection: Excellent; highly recommended “Savory spice components of cardamom meet black tea and forest floor in this powerful rich wine. A blend of the best blocks and barrels from several vineyards gives it a complex set of flavors and textures, from delicate and elegant to structured and age-worthy. Best 2020–2025.” – Virginie Boone, February 2019, Wine Enthusiast
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Wine OriginThe 2015 vintage is the second vintage of The Loch and The Key. The wines combine decades of winemaking mastery with our long history on the Sonoma Coast. They are consummate blends, artfully crafted from our best blocks and barrels of wine. “Our goal was simple, but not easy,” says Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen. “We searched our cellar for our most beautiful wines of the vintage—stirring wines that sing on the palate. Then we began blending.” Like a secret code unlocked by our winemakers, The Loch embodies everything that we know about making great Pinot Noir. We named these wines The Loch and The Key, both as a nod to our founder Steve MacRostie’s Scottish heritage and to his early experiences as a cryptographer deciphering codes in Europe for the U.S. Army.
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Production NotesThe 2015 vintage had low yields compared to average Sonoma County growing seasons. Moderate temperatures, and weather conditions without rain or frost, developed the fruit slowly and evenly. With the low yields, many vineyards were harvested earlier than previous vintages. Here at MacRostie, we pride ourselves on working with growers who know the land intimately. Vintage after vintage, the partnerships we have with our growers provide us with beautiful fruit. This artful blend was made from our very finest blocks and barrels of Pinot Noir from a handful of vineyards that span the Sonoma Coast. Champlin Creek is a volcanic hillside site in Carneros. Small berries and low yields led to color and flavor extraction, which give The Loch beautiful body. Wildcat Mountain, Steve MacRostie’s own vineyard, produced fruit packed with spice and texture from a small field called Arrow Block. The last piece to round out this wine was from our Thale’s Estate Vineyard. The Terrace Block of Thale’s provided ripe flavors of plum and blackberry that gave The Loch vibrancy and length.
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Winemaker NotesThe grapes were harvested by hand and gently destemmed exclusively into small one-ton fermenters to focus the style of each vineyard and clone. After a three-day cold soak, fermentation began and lasted about three weeks. The wine was then put straight to French oak barrels as free run. After 10 months of aging, the wine was blended to create The Loch, aged in four barrels, two new and two one-year old. With another six months in oak The Loch was deemed aged to perfection and was bottled on February 15th, 2016.