2022 Provocateur WV Pinot Noir

Strongman at the circus 

The Cliff Notes: The wine shows deep ruby red in glass, and gives off an effusive nose of broad cherry, sweet spice, maybe cinnamon red hots, cranberry and orange. The attack is substantial and saline at that, revealing candied cherry, smoke, jerky and anise. The linear structure feels somehow the final sanding pass on a 70% cocoa chocolate bar. 

The Name: Provocateurs poke at you. They put forth things that make you think, maybe it’s time for a re-think? 

A Story: The 2022 vintage presented frost to many, but our later bud-break due to higher elevations saved our bacon, providing a fantastic growing season and great fruit. This wine is a collection of the more obvious barrels of the cellar ready for their debut from the get-go.  

Fermentation: Small-lot wild yeast fermentations in open-top wood and stainless steel tanks. Limited pre-ferment maceration, followed by minimal, but targeted temperature and punch-down intervention. 

Elevage: 100% barrel aged for one year in in 19% new French oak. Racked and bottled unfined and unfiltered in November of 2023. 

Ageability: Drink now to seven years and think about getting it some air in the first three.

Vineyards: Our St. Dolores Estate (14 years), Gemini Vineyard (29 years), and Temperance Hill (42 years). All our vineyards are dry-farmed. 

— Jim Prosser, owner/winemaker