2023 Vespidae WV Pinot

Hard work has its rewards

A Story: Vespidae (ves-puh-day): Latin name of the family of wasp trying to kill me.

The Cliff Notes: The color is deep transparent violet. The nose is cherry, cinnamon, ginger, Italian plum and green tea. The mouth is a highly reactive attack of spiced cherry, Chinese BBQ pork and cumin. There is mouth-watering acidity, block-sanded by fine (320 grit?) tannins, that send it long, long, long.

The Vintage: 2023 was a good growing year with fairly early bud-break, generally dry weather and reasonably moderate temperatures with only one four-day run above 100 degrees. An inch of rain two weeks before harvest balanced chemistries followed by a rather medium yielding and truncated harvest during the second week of September.

The Building of: Three ton, wild-yeast fermentations in wood and stainless steel, 100% barrel aged for 15 months: 13% new, 13% one year, 74% two year or older. Bottled unfined and unfiltered in March 2024.

Ageability: Get it some air in the first three years. This wine should easily climb in complexity beyond ten years.

Vineyards: This is our flagship bottling representing two great vineyards. The lead component is our structured and juicy St. Dolores Estate (15 years) at 75%, complimented by the linear acidity of old-vine Temperance Hill (43 years) at 25%. Both vineyards certified organic and dryland farmed.

— Jim Prosser, owner/winemaker