Quinta Del Mar
San Luis Obispo, CA

Winemaker Notes
With our second vintage from QDM, we tried to acknowledge the flavor, character and potential of place. Each location, site, terroir – which ever term you favor- is truly different from the next. The differences can be merely nuanced or significant. Profound or pedestrian. A concept, a bit of wisdom, that I learned many years ago and still refer to is:” Let it be what it wants to be” Whatever the creative/artistic/artisanal pursuit - what is the nature of that pursuit- its attributes, the vibe, the energy, the associative ideas that it brings? For me these things ring true and solid for music, art, architecture and wine. Wine gives us the ability to channel the energy and potential of what is locked up in grapes grown with care and understanding and attention to detail and respect for the place and the people involved. In viticulture, the site and the grower are paramount, the wine makers job to understand, channel, guide and nurture and represent the place. We understood that QDM can and did produce lovely Pinot Noir with a lush fruitful quality. What we could not yet see was which path the wine would follow after the exciting young wines start to settle in. As the vineyard matures year by year, as the grower better understands the site and as we are better able to contemplate the essence and direction of the wine, although it’s still early, we are starting to get hints of a beautiful future ahead.

Carousel, rich, sweet and spicy
Luscious intrigue, sexy, smoky, expressive, exotic
Damp earth and wild game bird   cool mountain slope
Smooth, smoove, groove, crest, curl, furl, whirl, swirl
Context, collaboration, concentration, celebration
Lively, lovely, literate, laconic
End of the night, it’s alright

—Jeff Fink

2014 Aether Quinta Del Mar Pinot Noir Tech Sheet