Sequana vineyards
Displaying Tasting Notes:
Displaying the classic qualities of the Santa Lucia Highlands, this silky Pinot Noir has pretty floral and citrus aromas. Warm Asian spices accompany bright, lasting flavors of citrus, rose petal and cherry.
Vineyard Notes:
The setting for this vineyard is nothing short of spectacular. The Sarmento Vineyard sits on benchlands of ancient, tilted alluvial soils topped with rock-studded sandy loam. Grapes for the Sarmento Pinot Noir come from two separate 10-year-old vineyard blocks – each with a unique clone. This family-owned, sustainably-farmed vineyard benefits from its southeast exposure and cool climate, allowing the grapes to ripen fully.
Winemaker Notes:
A winemaker learns something new from his or her vineyards every year, but the steepest learning curve is the first year. This was especially true with the 2007 Sequana Sarmento Vineyard Pinot Noir, as I learned first-hand the dynamics of the Santa Lucia Highlands and its unique microclimates. With a year of experience making wine from this vineyard I feel that with the 2008 vintage I deliver a more complex, though easily approachable Pinot Noir that accents the best aspects of the region. The 667 Clone provides a good color, elegant bouquet and some tannins to give the wine structure. The Pommard Clone has dark fruits, but also provides the earthiness characteristic of Pinot Noir, while also lending a tannic backbone. Grapes were hand-picked and hand-sorted, then cold-soaked prior to fermentation to maximize flavor and color extraction. In small open-topped tanks, each block was fermented separately, using primarily native yeasts. Other lots were fermented with yeasts unique to each individual lot. Hand punch-downs extracted and elevated the Pinot Noir flavors and the wine was aged sur lie in French oak barrels for 11 months.

James MacPhail quickly earned a reputation for bringing out the best in single vineyard Pinot Noir. Beginning in the mid- 1990s, he carefully designed his winemaking education by working with Pinot Noir leaders Merry Edwards and Gary Farrell. Today, James is dedicated exclusively to producing small lots of distinctive Pinot Noir.

James enjoys industry-wide respect for his consistent track record, producing prized wines from vineyards in the Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley appellations under his own label, MacPhail Family Wines. His acclaimed wines captured the attention of industry veteran Tom Selfridge. In 2007, Tom approached James and asked him to create a new winery – Sequana. James accepted the leadership role because, “It gives me the rare opportunity to work with vineyards in two of California’s finest Pinot Noir appellations: Green Valley of Russian River Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands.” Sequana is his only project other than his own label, MacPhail Family Wines.