About this winery
All of Sea Smoke’s grapes come from a rugged, foggy (or “sea smoky”) vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills region of Santa Barbara County. From these grapes, the Sea Smoke team creates two beautiful Pinot Noirs: Southing and Ten as well as Chardonnay and a 100% Pinot Noir méthode champenoise sparkling wine called Sea Spray. The Sea Smoke vineyard is planted with 10 different clones of Pinot Noir as well as Chardonnay spread across 39 hectares, creating many combinations of soil, clone and...
See the SEA SMOKE detail page for more information on this brand
Product notes
Ten is named for the ten Pinot Noir clones found on our estate vineyard. Our most masculine wine, it is brooding and intense, with firm, mature tannins and a long, velvety finish. Ten is not for the faint-of-heart and has been known, on occasion, to convert even the most fanatic Cabernet lover.
Production notes
Hand-harvested, clusters were sorted in the vineyard
and then gently destemmed following an evening in our cold room.
All ‘jack stems’ were removed on the sorting table. Musts were cold
soaked in open-top fermenters for five days, and then inoculated with
cultured yeasts to begin slow fermentation. Each tank was manually
punched down two times per day, with a total maceration time of
sixteen to twenty-eight days. Upon completion of primary fermentation and maceration, all free run wine was transferred to tank for settling, and then pressed at extremely low pressure (0.08 bars) to avoid
extracting bitterness. After settling overnight both free-run and press
wines were racked to barrels. Ten was bottled with no fining and no
filtration.
Tasting notes
A brooding and intense wine. The aromas begin with
notes of ground cacao, raspberry and Friar plum, followed by a mix
of spices and a hint of lavender. Firm, mature tannins - evidence of
Ten’s ageability - are followed by a long, velvety finish.
