Orin Swift Slander, Pinot Noir, California, United States 2021

Description

Abundantly aromatic, the wine opens with ripe cranberry, marmalade, white pepper, fresh brioche, dried sage, camphor and Mediterranean coastal trail. The entry is silky with a flood of bing cherry galette, Madagascar vanilla and ripe red fruits. Seamless, integrated and elegantly opulent, the wine finishes gracefully with trace amounts of soft, oak tannin.

The history of Orin Swift Cellars dates back to 1995 when on a lark, David Swift Phinney took a friend up on an offer and went to Florence, Italy to spend a semester “studying”. During that time, he was introduced to wine, how it was made, and got hooked. A few more years of university led to graduation and eventually a job at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1997 as a temporary harvest worker. Deciding that if he was going to work this hard, it would eventually have to be for himself, so in 1998 he founded Orin Swift Cellars; Orin is his father’s middle name and Swift is his mother’s maiden name. With two tons of zinfandel and not much else, he spent the next decade making wine for others as well as himself and grew the brand to what it is today.

Winemaker Notes: Crisp crimson in the glass, the 2021 Slander opens with notes of wild strawberry, pomegranate, Bing cherry and cedar. Secondary aromatics abound, with hints of redwood grove underbrush, white pepper and earth. Delicate on entry, the palate is flooding with red plum, cherry cola, rhubarb and spices. A touch of cocoa powder on the finish, the wine closes with confident acidity and length

. Aged for 8 months in French Oak, 32% new. 15.3% Alc./Vol.