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Orin Swift Cellars Slander 2020

Duct Tape is important
Pinot Noir (Pinot Nero)
  • $130.00

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Notes:

Body:

Dryness: Dry

Acidity: Medium

Tannin:

Alcohol (%):

Origin: California (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River Valley & More), United States of America

Maker: Orin Swift Cellars

Grape:

  • Pinot Noir (Pinot Nero)

Fermentation: Slight Wood

Awards: >90 pts

Decanting:

Asian Food Pairing: Tuna tataki, Chicken Satay, Sio bak, Stir fry pepper fish

Western Food Pairing: Pair with a good steak, herby poultry mains, meatball marinara

Description

Orin Swift Cellars Slander 2020

A union of California Pinot Noir with Orin Swift's signature style. Orin Swift Cellars Slander is a union of California Pinot Noir made with the Orin Swift signature style.

Glowing cardinal hue. Elegant and complex nose of ripe cherries, dried rose petals, a touch of white pepper and a hint of alpine forest. Balanced and integrated. The palate comprises of sweet strawberries, cranberries, and traces of rhubarb. Closes with a long finish of toasted brioche, a dash of caramel and fresh raspberries.

100% Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir and Orin Swift Cellars have had a unique relationship over the years. This vintage is only the fourth release of Slander, but Orin Swift's experimentation and trials with Pinot Noir go back many years prior. Their signature style of finding the highest quality grapes, picking without hesitation and being gentle with the fruit during fermentation is of utmost importance. Requiring a gentler approach with punchdowns rather than pumpovers, Pinot Noir expresses itself when it is least manipulated. What results is a final blend of fruit sourced from the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley and Sta. Rita Hills AVAs.

Ageing for 10 months in French Oak, 30% new.

Top Tip: Decant an hour before serving.

About the Label

The creative (if slightly disturbing gothic and grunge) style of Orin Swift labels encourage you to rethink wine through a different lens. Each label is an evocative expression of art that leaves a heart-skipping impression.

Having troubled and toiled for a decade to make a Pinot Noir worth bottling, Phinney finally got his recipe right in 2015 after learning the importance of picking the finicky grape at exactly the right moment of ripeness before it ends up tasting like strawberry jam.

The label is one of the simplest in the Orin Swift range, and is meant to look like a piece of duct tape wrapped around the bottle in a nod to labelling barrel and tank samples when he first started out.

“Two things you always have in a winery are duct tape and marker pens… and cold beer,” Phinney jokes. “Slander is the only wine I make that my wife will drink and she has a much better palate than me.”

 

Check out the other gorgeous Californian Reds we've got.

15.2%

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Aged for 10 months in French oak barrels (42% new), the 2018 Pinot Noir Slander has a pale to medium ruby-purple color. It springs from the glass with notes of raspberry tart, cranberry sauce and rhubarb pie plus hints of Provence herbs and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is softly spoken with a nice suggestion of chewiness to the texture and an earthy lift on the finish.