Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Noir

Tasting notes & discussion 22

Typically $45/bottle from Michel-Schlumberger
Vintage 2019 from Dry Creek Valley
Available for AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Sold by participating winery or licensee, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect

About Michel-Schlumberger: “Michel-Schlumberger’s first vines were planted in 1979 by Jean-Jacques Michel, a native of Switzerland. Michel traveled extensively across Northern California in search of the perfect location to establish his winery.”

Ring It, Someone Will Come

TASTING NOTES: “Color: Classic Pinot Noir ruby. Aromas: Rich aromas of blueberry and raspberry, with notes of cherry and vanilla. Palate: Concentrated berry flavors, lush mouthfeel, and long fruit finish.” (AbV 14.9%, pH 3.54, TA 0.56 g/100ml)

VARIETALS: 100% Pinot Noir

BARRELS: The grapes were crushed into small fermenters. After cold-soaking for three days to extract rich color, the must fermented on the skins for three weeks to obtain a richly extracted wine. The wine was aged for 12 months in tight-grained French oak barrels (20% new).

PAIRS WITH: N/A

THAT REMINDS ME OF: The winery’s mission-style bell tower — one of the architectural features of the Michel-Schlumberger estate.

There is a specific, almost embarrassing pleasure in hearing a distant bell tower. Not a church alarm going off, not a clock tower doing its hourly bureaucratic chime, but a real bell, rung by hand, for a reason you don’t quite know. It implies a world organized around audible signals — a world where people needed to be summoned. Come eat. Come pray. Come look at this thing that’s happening. The bell doesn’t explain itself. It just rings, and you’re expected to understand.

The best bell towers have names for their bells. Not “the big one” and “the little one,” but actual names, inscribed in the metal during casting. European cathedral bells have been named since at least the medieval period — feminine names, mostly, because bells were thought to have voices, and voices were feminine, apparently. They were baptized. Blessed with holy water and anointed with oil. Given godparents. A bell in Cologne Cathedral is named Decima. One in Exeter is Grandisson. The bourdon bell of Notre-Dame de Paris, before the fire, was named Emmanuel, and it only rang for events of sufficient gravity — the death of a pope, the end of a war, the liberation of a city.

What would ring your bell, is sort of the question. What counts as sufficient gravity in your life? For most of us, the answer probably isn’t “the death of a pope.” It’s something smaller and weirder and more personal. A phone call from an old friend. A parking spot opening up right when you need it. A bottle of something good, appearing in your life, seemingly out of nowhere.

Who's buying this?

How are you buying your bottles?

What's enough to ring your bell these days?

A long catch-up call with someone I've been missing

A long catch-up call with someone I've been missing
A good bottle appearing at exactly the right moment

A good bottle appearing at exactly the right moment
Finishing something I've been putting off for too long

Finishing something I've been putting off for too long
A quiet evening where nothing needs my attention

A quiet evening where nothing needs my attention
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