John Murrill's "The Hill" Vineyard
TASTING NOTES:
The 2023 vintage of “the Hill” Sangiovese has a deep purple
color. The hues are bright and
youthful.
Often Sangiovese has a lighter color with some red hues. “The Hill” provides us with deeply pigmented
grapes with a strong purple orientation.
The aromas of plum, briary mulberry, and leather share the stage with a
bouquet of toasty oak and milk chocolate. On the
palate, succulent juicy flavors of
fully ripened dark fruit and smoky oak are delivered by a wine with some
extract. While this wine doesn’t have
the intense tannins of a Brunello it does have a chalky richness, and I find it
more enjoyable with a meal than by itself. The classic pairing for Brunello is
braised wild boar. I admit that’s a bit
exotic, but venison and other game meats work well along with rich savory stews
that balance the elevated levels of tannin and the complex structure of this
wine.
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Varietal Composition: 100% Sangiovese
15.6% Alc. 0.69 g/100ml TA 3.32 pH
Oak Regime: 40% American Oak 40% French Oak 20% Neutral Oak
“The Hill Vineyard”
Sangiovese is tended by John Murrill and his son Andrew. We have been producing this wine since
2016. The vineyard is quite small, and
our average production is just 151 cases per year. Some folks might question whether working
with such a small lot makes any sense, but once they taste the wine they
understand. We first met John when he
took over the farming of Joe Aparecio’s Carignane vineyard. Joe was getting up there in age and needed
John to take over for him. John did a terrific
job with the Carignane, but when he offered us Sangiovese, I was my usual
skeptical self. We already had a source for
Sangiovese, but John convinced me to try his fruit. I relented and am glad I did. While we were producing a wonderful
Sangiovese in the classic Chianti style from the Pioneer Hill Vineyard and the
Cooper Ranch vineyard, the fruit from “The Hill” allows us to make a more
substantial Sangiovese more in the style of Brunello than Chianti.This is the perfect
example of a wine for our Explorer program.
We don’t make enough for it to be a wine club selection, and we are
bombarded with curiosity regarding these small lot wines. So, by joining the explorer program you get a
chance to try these gems that are usually tasting room only wines. We appreciate your interest in these ‘off the
beaten track’ wines, and we look forward to sharing our discoveries with you. In 2025, Dolcetto is rejoining the
portfolio. We crushed two tons from Josh
Lyman’s vineyard while we wait for the grafting at the Dal Porto Ranch to bear
fruit. We will release our first Nero
d’Avola in September. Lots to look
forward to.
Gold Medal - Dan Berger's International Wine Competition
The price of this product varies with the quantity of products ordered in the category "Mix and Match"
| Qty | Unit Price |
| 1 - 11 | $34.00 |
| 12 + | $34.00 $30.60 |
|
