Alcohol: 14.5%
Grape(s): Pinot Noir
Localization: Russian River Valley, California, USA
Tasting Notes: Plush and ripe on the palate, “Les Pommiers” offers bright notes of raspberry preserves and forest floor, plus the baking spice and confectionary accents that result from an elegant balance of new and neutral oak. There’s a beautiful purity of fruit from start to end, with generous berry notes and clove accents that pop on the finish.
Notes: Our Northern Spy Vineyard in Russian River Valley’s Green Valley AVA was an abandoned apple orchard groomed specifically for EnRoute. We are thrilled with the quality of the fruit from this site, which grows on the region’s famous Goldridge soils. Pommard 5, Mt. Eden, Swan, 2A and Dijon clones 115 and 777 are planted on 101-14 rootstock with 4 x 7 spacing in this vineyard. Our Amber Ridge Vineyard is located on rolling terrain in the upper Middle Reach area of the Russian River Valley. Planted with bilateral vertical trellising, the clonal mix includes Pommard 5, Calera and Dijon clones 115, 667, and 777 using 101-14 rootstock to limit vigor. Manzana Vineyard plays an important role in the Les Pommiers blend, with its hillside fruit planted in Green Valley to Dijon clones 114, 115 and Pommard 5.
Food pairing: Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs with Caramelized Sweet Potatoes
The Domain: “We have made a serious and deep commitment to the region, acquiring remarkable vineyards and establishing EnRoute, devoted to Russian River Pinot Noir.”
An unfinished trek. The act of being on the way to someplace meaningful and special and defining. To us, the name EnRoute explains our mission, our wine and above all, our never-ending quest to capture the most ethereal and sublime Pinot Noir imaginable.
Our route has taken us to the Russian River. Where the dense fog, the gravelly soil, the microclimates and the proximity to the cool Pacific Ocean create vineyards and conditions that work in concert to create some of the most textured, graceful and stylish Pinot Noirs on Earth.Established in 2007 by the partners at Far Niente, EnRoute is the culmination of a more than 40-year passion for Pinot. Creating Pinot Noir is an altogether different art and science than Cabernet, and we maintained a steely resilience that prevented us from doing this any other way but the right way. We refused to compromise, did nothing that hastened the process, and settled for nothing less than superb Pinot.
The Russian River Valley has opened its arms wide to inspired and incomparable Pinot Noirs. Indeed, our flagship wine, "Les Pommiers," is the consummate blend of our best Russian River Valley fruit, from our vineyards as far south as the cool Green Valley and north through the upper Middle Reach areas of the Russian River Valley AVA. The captivating perfume, the layered fruit flavors, the silky palate, and the sheer purity of the wine underscore why this wine has achieved flagship status. And the preeminence of this Pinot reinforces our deep and abiding commitment to the Russian River Valley.
If our "Les Pommiers" draws on the best of the Russian River Valley as a whole, our single-vineyard program showcases the pedigree and standout expressions of specifically chosen sites. We craft very small quantities of these luscious single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, and they are each beautifully evocative of the place in which they were grown.
