Goldeneye/Anderson Valley

I have been waiting to travel into the Anderson valley,and NOW...My wait is over!!Join me as I feature the wines of this "Pinot Noir Heaven" Growing Region.In the story of great winegrowing appellations, there are always a few wineries that help to raise the bar and chart the course for a region. As a Pinot Noir specialist, and the winemaker for Goldeneye, Michael Fay is building on the valley’s reputation as one of the world’s preeminent locations for growing Pinot Noir. At the same time, his belief in a vineyard-inspired, small-lot approach to winemaking is cementing Goldeneye’s status as one of North America’s great Pinot Noir wineries. MICHAEL FAY Winemaker for Goldeneye Michael was born in Vicenza, Italy, near the winegrowing region of Friuli, and was raised in Southern California. While working in the restaurant industry and studying forestry management at the University of Washington in Seattle, Michael discovered a passion for West Coast Pinot Noir. “I was studying forestry management because I wanted to cultivate a relationship with nature, but my growing love of Pinot made me realize I didn’t want to make paper, I wanted to make wine.” In 2000, Michael transferred to Cal Poly to study enology and viticulture. He also took a job in the vineyards at Cambria Estate in Santa Maria. It didn’t last long. “My vineyard work was meticulous, but I was really slow!” The name Ten Degrees pays homage to the unique, cool climate of the Anderson Valley and the fact that even though our four estate vineyards span a modest eight miles, they often display a temperature variance of as much as 10 degrees from The Narrows Vineyard in the cool “deep end” to our Confluence Vineyard in the south. To add to this natural climactic diversity, our Estate program consists of 200 acres and more than 96 individual blocks of Pinot Noir with 49 unique combinations of clone and rootstock material. Goldeneye began making premium quality, cool-climate Pinot Noir from our estate winery in the Anderson Valley in 1997. Blending grapes from four estate vineyards, we are dedicated to crafting wines of refinement and elegance from a rich palette of terroir-inspired fruit. Reflecting the Mendocino Coast’s unique marine influences, sites and soils, these grapes create sublime and sophisticated Pinot Noir. To further enhance natural depth and complexity, winemaker Michael Fay selects only a small percentage of the finest fruit for each vintage before applying small-lot, artisanal winemaking techniques. Our Confluence Vineyard is located in the heart of the Anderson Valley, adjacent to the headwaters of the Navarro River. The vineyard offers a unique range of soils, from benchland to gravel strata, as well as varying exposures including hillside slopes and protected pockets. This natural diversity allows us to choose clones ideally suited to each specific vineyard block, ultimately yielding grapes possessing a variety of expressive flavors and characteristics. The opulent Pinot Noir produced from this valley floor vineyard displays voluptuous red fruit components and plush, supple tannins. Offering an ideal southwestern exposure and an array of unique benchland and hillside vineyard blocks, Gowan Creek Vineyard brings together elements from both the Anderson Valley’s warmer regions and its cooler, northern “deep end.” This diversity has inspired two limited-production Pinot Noirs─Gowan Creek Lower Bench and Gowan Creek Hillside. Though both wines offer the wild, blue fruit flavors that are signatures of the vineyard, this bottling spotlights the lush, opulent and fruit-driven character of grapes grown in the deep alluvial soils of Gowan Creek’s fertile lower bench sections - Soon we will have incredible food and wine pairings with these wines,Cheers! Click here and join us as we taste these beautiful Pinot Noirs. Click here and please don't miss this tasting.