2008 Pinot Noir Arroyo Grande Valley

Brian Talley admitted that it's an ongoing struggle "to fight this ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) thing when we get a hot vintage like 2007. Too many of the wines play right into the stereotype of California chardonnays being too buttery, too rich, too heavy too everything." That said, the style here continues to emphasize balance over power, and that goes for the pinots as well as the chardonnays. Talley is pleased that his 2008s and young 2009s showcase his house style, "which is for intensity and depth of fruit and without going over the top," while acknowledging that '06 and '07 were warmer vintages "that made achieving that a real struggle. You want to preserve freshness but you also have to harvest when the fruit is ripe. Just picking early for its own sake runs the danger of getting greenness, which is a poor trade-off for the extra acidity. The fruit has to be properly ripe, which doesn't have to mean overripe if you manage your vineyards well and work with the canopies."