Pale ruby color; cherry, some earthiness on the nose; cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, redcurrant, minerality on the palate.
Dry; medium body; very polished tannins, excellent acidity; sharply focused fruit that is respectful of your palate, then grows on you sip after sip. Lovely, elegant wine rather than big wine. Adroitly restrained, correct use of oak—finished in French oak, 25% new and 75% neutral; 13.5% ABV.
Long Meadow Ranch is a collection of five properties: three in Napa Valley, one in Anderson Valley, and one in West Marin. The operation is owned by Ted, Laddie, and Christopher Hall. They employ an integrated, organic farming system, using simple, sustainable methods. Each part of the ranch contributes to the health of the whole. Vineyards and wine making, olive orchards and olive oil making, cattle and horse breeding all work together in complementary fashion, as do the egg-laying poultry flock and the organic vegetable gardens. All crops are certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and are grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers.
According to the website: “In the late 1800’s, the majestic Long Meadow Ranch property thrived with vineyards, apple orchards, olive groves, hay and a goat milk dairy until farming fell dormant during Prohibition. Over the following years, the property became swallowed by the encroaching forest until the Halls bought the property in 1989.
“The Hall family carefully breathed life back into the land, nurturing it back to its glory, and then some, by cutting back the abandoned olive trees and replanting the vineyards and apple orchards as you see them growing today. Home to the Mayacamas Estate, the rugged 650-acre landscape nestled in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains also gave way to a long, sweeping meadow, thus the name Long Meadow Ranch was born.”
Today, Long Meadow Ranch farms includes three counties with more than 2,000 acres of grapes, olives, fruits, vegetables, and pasture land. Their vision: “To be a family-owned producer and purveyor of world-class wine and food that is economically successful and socially responsible using diversified, sustainable, and organic farming methods.” Their motto: “Excellence through Responsible Farming.”
Long Meadow Ranch Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley 2015 is elegant and refined, tastes more like Willamette Valley or Burgundy pinot noir than a California effort. Complex and elegant with great structure, sharply focused. Pair with braised lamb shanks with tomatoes; roast turkey; salmon— poached, sautéd, or baked; zucchini and red onion frittata; avocado and papaya salad; squab with spiced plums; grilled quail with chanterelle mushrooms. $37-40
