Gallo Family Vineyards TURNING LEAF Pinot Noir California

Medium-bodied wine featuring rich, fruity aromas and flavours enhanced by subtle undertones of oak. Its pleasing notes of sweet, ripe fruit and plum deliver a full, soft mouth-feel and a lingering finish. (12 x 75 cl)

This wine has dark sweet fruit and licorice flavors layered with spice and white pepper accents. The wine is medium bodied with structured tannins providing balance and elegance for a pleasurable drinking experience on its own or to be easily paired with food. (6 x 75 cl)

A rounder, fuller version of the varietal, with blackberries and blackcurrants on the nose and palate, firm tannin but creamy finish. (12 x 75 cl)

A medium to full-bodied wine with Zinfandel's classic berry character, and a gentle hint of herbs and black pepper. (12 x 75 cl)

Medium-bodied wine with intense varietal flavours of cherry and raspberry, and a hint of toasted oak complexity. (12 x 75 cl)

Varietal flavours of citrus, melon and herbs are enhanced by flavours and aromas of toasted oak. The result is a crisp, medium-bodied white wine, with a clean finish. (12 x 75 cl)

A medium-bodied Chardonnay with ripe apple flavours, a rich mouth-feel and a hint of vanilla on the finish. (12 x 75 cl)

Aromas of citrus blossom and honeysuckle, followed by flavours of ripe pear and delicious nectorines, and a clean soft finish. (12 x 75 cl)

Winemaking has been a tradition in the Gallo family for almost 70 years and in developing the Ernest & Julio Gallo Sonoma wines, the winemakers have made a careful journey from vine to wine. The journey begins in Sonoma County where cool ocean breezes, lingering coastal fog and the warm sun nurture the ripening grapes. It ends with patient barrel-by-barrel tasting during fermentation and ageing to ensure that the potential tasted on the vine is captured in the bottle. More than other varietals, perhaps, Pinot Noir is a winemaker's wine, especially in the opportunities it provides for finessing delicate nuances of flavour or character. California's Sonoma County makes this challenge even more appealing by the excellent quality of its Pinot Noir grapes. Vineyards near the coast offer virtually ideal weather conditions with warm daytime temperatures during the growing season, followed by heavy fog intrusion at night and dramatically cooler conditions. Such a climate cycle slows down the ripening process, enabling Pinot Noir to develop crisp acids, good colour and great depth of flavour on the vine. Once in the winery the grapes were de-stemmed to limit the extraction of bitter tannin and delivered to the fermenting tanks uncrushed, since broken and macerated skins can be another source of excess tannin in the finished wine. Fermentation with 20-30% whole berries results in Pinot Noir rounder in body and fresher in flavour. The wine was 100% barrel aged for 6 months, during which time it gained greater complexity by completing a secondary cycle of malolactic fermentation. This care has produced a distinct fruit-forward character with intense flavours of dark red fruit-cherry and ripe raspberry. This Pinot Noir is framed by fresh earthy notes and a velvety finish showing a subtle layer of sweet vanilla oak. (6 x 75 cl)