Tasting notes:
Clay Shannon Pinot Noir. On the nose, there is sweet tobacco leaf, plum and mulberry fruit. The palate is generous with brooding autumnal fruit character and a fresh seem of acidity on the finish.
Food Match:
Venison, or venison burger. Great with any gamey or barbeque food.
Producer/Region:
Clay Shannon Pinot Noir comes from a single vineyard called Long Valley Ranch which is located in the western most corner of a 5 mile long trans-verse valley, it’s tucked amongst the fertile valley floor between two 3,000 ft mountain ranges. Once it’s pressed it is barrel aged in 25% new French oak for 10 months. This vineyard is also planted with numerous clones. The clone 777 is the predominant clone of this blend
Clay Shannon is the name of the winery, but he is also the founder and owner of the estate and winery. Along with his wife Angie Shannon. Clay began his career as a vineyard manager, farming the wine regions of California. In 1996 he decided to set out on his own to establish a progressive, pioneering winery and ranch in Lake County, California. Now owner of Shannon Family of Wines, his passion is simple. “Grow the best fruit possible, while preserving the land for future generations”.
The Lake County appellation is in the North Coast mountains of Northern California at an altitude of 1,800-2,400 feet. And the vineyard includes over 2,000 acres of mountain property, roughly half of which is under vine and farmed as regeneratively organic. This unique location has many different microclimates and benefits from rich volcanic soil, altitude, slope, the 18 mile long Clear Lake and temperature variations, not to mention the abundance of wildlife that frequent the vineyards. They have nearly a thousand sheep on site and with the philosophy that everything starts with the land. They don’t follow the flock, they put them to work. Using the sheep to mow, cultivate, weed and fertilise, playing a pivotal role in their regenerative organic farming practices.
Sustainability:
Shannon family is committed to an earth‑first approach to farming and winemaking. It is one of the largest 100% certified organic mountain grown vineyards in the US. Both the vineyard and the winery are Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing and in 2021 they received the “California Green Medal Environment Award” which recognises their commitment to sustainability and effort to protect the environment.
Alongside regenerative farming, Shannon Family of Wines work hard to reduce the carbon footprint in their operations with reductions in energy consumption and increased use of solar energy, reduction of waste going to landfill and increased recycling. Bottle weights have been reduced and all cork is 100% natural renewable. Their bottling line wraps pallets exclusively with Smart Plastic’s Eclipse stretch film which bio-assimilates back into the earth, leaving behind zero microplastics. It is also 100% recyclable.
