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Muns Vineyard

Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir


 

 

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Muns Vineyard Pinot Noirs win Best of Appellation Gold Medals from AppellationAmerica.com.
2004 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir:  Gold Medal
2005 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir:  Gold Medal
2006 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir:  Gold Medal

 

Spring 2013

        
Bud Break                              New Shoot                           Shoot Growth                                   Shoot Tucking

     
    Rapid Growth                              Aerial View from Tower                         Monterey Peninsula

  
"Pinot in the Pinot!"
(Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz in the background)

After 25" of rain in November-December 2012, there has been only 5" through the first three months of this year.  Bud break was on 18 March, just a few days later than normal.  By the end of April, shoots were 6-18" long and most had two large flower clusters. 

 

Winter Photos   Spring Photos   Summer Photos   Harvest Photos          Blog

Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noirs:

A Special Mountain Vineyard,
Special Mountain Pinot Noir

Muns Vineyard brushes the sky on a ridge above Monterey Bay at 2600 feet.  This is the highest Pinot Noir vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a prime growing region for this luscious winegrape.  We enjoy the coastal climate of the mountains, with cool fog lapping at our feet in the summer, gentle breezes and maximum sunlight -- perfect for growing premium Pinot Noir.  Moderate days and cool nights, along with diligent personal attention in our 13-acre owner-operated vineyard, produces fruit with rich and complex flavors.  We have blended Dijon clones 114, 115, 667 and 777 to provide a fruit-forward, complex and well-balanced wine.

Minimal intervention in the winery allows our unique terroir to shine.  Barrel aging in 30% new oak for about 16 months adds soft tannins that accentuate, but not dominate, the beautiful fruit in this special wine.  The wine drinks well now and is a delicious complement with food, and will bottle-age for years to come.  Enjoy 'heaven-in-a-bottle' from our ridge top vineyard above the bay!

Events

Please join us to taste our high mountain Pinots

As we do not have a tasting room, you can find us at the following events which are good opportunities to taste our wines.
You can then purchase from us directly or from any of a number of specialty wine shops that carry our wine.

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Saturday, May 18: Los Gatos Spring Wine Walk. 1:30-5:30.
Sip, savor and shop your way through Los Gatos. Fine wine, live music, great shopping, charming downtown. Los Gatos merchants provide an open house atmosphere for you to sip tastings from more than 45 wineries - including Muns Vineyard! We will taste our Muns Vineyard Pinots, and our incredibly delicious Syrah at Rootstock Wine Bar. Be sure to come in and try our wines for the wine walk. And at all times, our 2007 Pinot Noir is available by the glass at the bar, and our Syrah is available for sale by the bottle. Rootstock, 217 No. Santa Cruz Ave.

For more information and tickets to the Wine Walk, see the Chamber of Commerce website. Tickets (on sale now!): $40 in advance, $50 day of the event. We strongly suggest you purchase in advance as the event sells out. Must be at least 21 for the Wine Walk. ID is required upon check-in. Check in is at the breezeway at 100 North Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030 (near Purrsnickety).

 

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Saturday, June 22: Los Gatos Plein Air Fine Art Exhibit & Sale, 11:00-5:00.
This annual juried event brings nationally recognized Plein Air artists to Los Gatos to paint "en plein air" (on location "in the open air"). The invited artists will show and sell the paintings they have created over the previous few days as they have painted around town. Join us in the Los Gatos Town Plaza for the art show, live music and wine tasting. Admission is free. Muns Vineyard is pleased to support this town event for the past several years.  For more information, see the website here.
Los Gatos Plein Air is a fundraiser sponsored by the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club. Beneficiaries of Plein Air 2013 include: Los Gatos Music & Arts (sponsors of Jazz on the Plazz and Music in the Park); the Museums of Los Gatos; Montalvo Arts Education Program; and more.
 

Purchase Our Wine

Purchase from Our Order Page

Estate Grown Pinot Noir

 

Library Selections:

~ Experience the alchemy of bottle aging.  These wines are still available and drinking beautifully

2005  180 cases produced, released in March 2007.  $40

bullet91 Points, Wine Enthusiast
bulletGold Medal, Appellation America 'Best of Appellation' Award

2006  360 cases produced, released in June 2008.  $40

bullet Gold Medal, Appellation America 'Best of Appellation' Award
bullet"I was wild about the Muns Vineyard 2006 (Pinot Noir)..." - Christina Waters, in Santa Cruz Weekly, March 23, 2011, in an article about a pre-Pinot Paradise tasting.
bullet90 points, Richard Jennings, Huffington Post

2007  150 cases produced, released in Fall 2009.  $40

Current Releases:

2008  165 cases produced, released in May 2011.  $40

bullet90 points, Richard Jennings, Huffington Post

2009  242 cases produced, released November 2012.  $40

bullet"Pleasing aromas of black cherries, red plums and roasted nuts. Delicious mid-weight flavors of dark stone fruits with a subtle riff of spice. The tannins and acidity are nicely balanced and this wine drinks seamlessly. Exceptional."  - Rusty Gaffney, 'The Prince of Pinot', in PinotFile
bulletA favorite of Ken Zinns, Grape Nutz, at the 2013 Pinot Paradise Grand Cruz tasting
bullet"Consumers looking for a prettier style of pinot should enjoy the 2009 Muns Estate Pinot Noir ($40), with its crushed strawberry, spice and hint of vanilla.", Laurie Daniels, San Jose Mercury News, April 10, 2013, in this article about Pinot Paradise.

2011  Native Yeast Fermentation!  80 cases produced, released November 2012.  $40

Coming:

2010  250 cases produced, to be released Fall 2013.  $40

2011  Barrel aging, to be bottled Spring 2013 and released Fall 2014  $40

2012  Barrel aging

Rosé of Pinot Noir

Sold out until the 2012 vintage is released in spring 2013

Estate Grown Syrah

2009   66 cases produced, released September 2011.  $25 sold out

2010  120 cases produced, released October 2012.  $25

People ask us what was going on in the vineyard and the weather each vintage that affects the differences in flavor. This chart shows weather conditions and other factors for each growing season. Some seasons were wetter than others; some warmer or cooler. It is interesting to consider how these variables have influenced the wine!

 

News

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"Pleasing aromas of black cherries, red plums and roasted nuts. Delicious mid-weight flavors of dark stone fruits with a subtle riff of spice. The tannins and acidity are nicely balanced and this wine drinks seamlessly. Exceptional."  - Rusty Gaffney, 'The Prince of Pinot', about the 2009 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir in PinotFile. See the full review from Pinot Paradise here.

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"Consumers looking for a prettier style of pinot should enjoy the 2009 Muns Estate Pinot Noir ($40), with its crushed strawberry, spice and hint of vanilla.", Laurie Daniels, San Jose Mercury News, April 10, 2013, in this article about Pinot Paradise.

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The 2009 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir was a favorite of the Grape Nutz team, Ken Zinns and Al Osterheld, at the 2013 Pinot Paradise Grand Cruz tasting.
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Muns 2009 Pinot Noir, Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains. Medium-light color, this showed up front black cherry and plum aromas along with earth, fresh herbs, and notes of baking spice. Medium-light bodied, the tannins were noticeable but refined, nice.

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Muns 2011 Pinot Noir, “Native Yeast,” Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains. Fermented with native yeast and aged in neutral oak. Medium-light ruby, displaying more earth and herb components with somewhat primary cherry fruit in support. Fairly light but lively on the palate with moderate tannins, this still needs time to develop.

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Muns 2008 Pinot Noir, Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains. Similar color to the first two wines, displaying ripe black cherry, earth, and a touches of spice and vanilla on the nose. Richer mouthfeel with refined tannins.

Comments: At 2,600-foot elevation, Muns is the highest Pinot vineyard in the area, planted from 1998-2005 with 114, 115, 667, and 777 clones. Muns uses mostly Hungarian oak barrels – I thought they worked better with these wines than some of the others at the event.

See the complete article here.




 

bullet Ed is interviewed by Western Farm Press about the 2012 vintage. Wine grape growers in the Santa Cruz mountains are very optimistic about this year’s crop. Veteran Pinot Noir grower Ed Muns says, “Everyone around here is reporting great fruit and a prolific set. ... This could be one the best harvests in this region in 15 to 20 years.”  Greg Northcutt, July 25, 2012.
 

 

bullet Photos from Muns Vineyard and an interview with Mary
in this Santa Cruz Sentinel article on the 2012 harvest:
On this harvest moon: Grape picking begins in what
is expected to be great year for wine
, Santa Cruz
Sentinel, Sept. 19, 2012. "Everybody's looking forward
to making some great wine from this vintage," Mary said.
We're really pretty excited about it."


 
bulletOur 2007 Pinot Noir is featured by Josie Cowden in Good Times who finds it to be "one gorgeous Pinot," and "chock-full of beautiful fruit and bursting with flavors of caramel, vanilla, earth and spice."
 
bullet90 points for Muns Vineyard's 2006 and 2008 Pinot Noirs from Richard Jennings, wine writer and reviewer for the Huffington Post, in a review of Pinot Paradise on his blog, rjonwine.com:
bullet 2008 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir – USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains: Medium cherry red color; floral, tart strawberry, tart cherry nose; tart cherry, tart strawberry, strawberry syrup palate; needs 1-2 years; medium-plus finish 90+ points (clones 114, 115, 667 and 777) (90 pts.)
bullet 2006 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir – USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Bricking medium red color with pale meniscus; mature, ripe cherry, baked cherry, loam nose; light-medium bodied, loam, tart cherry, baked cherry palate; medium-plus finish (30% new Hungarian oak) (90 pts.)
 
bulletProfile of Ed and Mary in Los Gatos Weekly Times, 11/21/11: When it comes time to pour wine at a local charitable event, Muns' the word
 
bulletA video interview with Ed & Mary in the vineyard on Patch.com:  Muns Vineyard is a Pinot lover's paradise!
 
bullet"I was wild about the Muns Vineyard 2006 (Pinot Noir)..." - Christina Waters, in Santa Cruz Weekly, March 23, 2011, in an article about a pre-Pinot Paradise tasting.
 
bulletMuns Vineyard's 2008 Syrah is the featured 'Sip of the Week' in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/23/11.
 
bulletMuns Vineyard's 2007 Pinot Noir is the featured 'Sip of the Week' in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, 10/6/10. "Because Pinot Noir and fall go together.  Think Thanksgiving!
 
bulletMuns Vineyard's Rosé of Pinot Noir is featured in the Good Times Santa Cruz, March 3, 2010.  Rosé is becoming one of reviewer Josie Cowden's favorite wines, and she really likes the Muns Vineyard:

 "
(The Muns Vineyard) Rosé of Pinot Noir has everything going for it— it’s light and fresh and not overly sweet. Dry and crisp, this fragrant Rosé has gorgeous flavors of cherry, watermelon and cinnamon spice. As the warmer weather comes around, this would be a perfect wine to take on a picnic, or to have with your spring and summer greens."

Try it! We think you will really like this delicious Rosé.
 
bulletMuns Vineyard Pinots are featured in a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, with recipes from local vintners  - including Mary's now famous recipe for pan-roasted Brussels sprouts, that pairs deliciously with our 2004 and 2005 Pinot Noirs. 
 
bulletHam Radio Creates a Vineyard! - Ed is quoted in the 17 October 2009 article in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, "Amateur Radio Operators on Front Lines During Loma Prieta Quake".  Although Ed wasn't one of the active hams helping with that local disaster, the article notes that the property that eventually became the current Muns Vineyard was selected for ham radio purposes by Ed.  The first day of land clearing for the home occurred on 17 October, 1989, the day of the destructive Loma Prieta Earthquake, whose epicenter was just five miles south of the property.
 
bulletRead about Muns Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (September 12, 2009), in an article about the 2009 harvest.  It includes a number of photos of harvest at Muns Vineyard.
 
bulletRead about Muns Vineyard in the San Jose Mercury News.  Laurie Daniel, about Pinot Paradise: "The 2006 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir ($40) is dark and spicy, with black cherry, clove, cola, a hint of sage and firm structure."
 
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Says Rusty Gaffney, the "Prince of Pinot", about the 2005 Pinot Noir from Muns Vineyard in his PinotFiles newsletter:

"The 2005 vintage in the Santa Cruz Mountains was on the 'weighty' side and this wine shows the bold structure of the vintage.  Again, the aromatics are enchanting, featuring bright cherries, spices and ginger.  The velvety texture alone is worth the price of admission.  Perfectly balanced and thoroughly enjoyable."

"I visited and walked Ed's vineyard and I found it to be one of the more pristine vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  No question in my mind that this vineyard will be producing some remarkable Pinot Noirs for many years to come."

Read about Muns Vineyard in the March 15, 2008 issue of the Prince of Pinot's PinotFile newsletter.  The Prince reviews our 2004, 2005, 2006 and as yet unreleased 2007 Pinots. About the 2007, the Prince says,

"A consistent Muns Vineyard style is beginning to evolve with this wine which shows similarities in structure and character to the 2006 vintage. This wine exhibits admirable complexity with nicely spiced red and black fruits, herbs, forest floor and mocha. There are still tannins to shed, but these are ripe and fine and will integrate nicely with a little more bottle age. The acidity is spot on. This should prove to be a very stellar wine.

 

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Muns Vineyard awarded Best of Appellation Gold Medals for our 2004, 2005 and 2006 Pinot Noirs from AppellationAmerica.com
 

Vineyard

We grow premium Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir with exquisite attention to quality so as to produce the very finest wine.  The wines we produce reflect our high standards in the vineyard, as well as one of the best locations for growing Pinot Noir in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a prime growing region for this luscious winegrape.   The first commercial vintage was in 2003 based on a half-ton harvest.  Soquel Vineyards blended half of the wine into a Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir and the other half was bottled under the Muns Vineyard label.  Grape tonnage increased rapidly in succeeding years:

2004:    About four tons were harvested from four acres and again the wine was produced by Soquel Vineyards.  125 cases were produced as a Muns Vineyard designate under the Soquel Vineyards label and another 125 cases under the Muns Vineyard label.

2005:   Almost twelve tons were harvested from six acres with five tons going into the Soquel Vineyards label as a Muns Vineyard designated wine.  The other seven tons went into a Muns Vineyard designate wine on three labels produced by Silver Mountain Vineyards: Silver Mountain Vineyards, Sonnet Wine Cellars and Muns Vineyard.  Tony Craig, of Dave Bruce fame, made these three wines.

2006:   Nearly 24 tons were harvested from seven acres with 10 tons going to Soquel Vineyards and 14 tons crushed at Silver Mountain Vineyards for the same three labels as in 2005.  This was an abnormally large yield, as it was for many California vineyards, due to abundant winter rains that produced record cluster sizes.

2007:   Fruit set this season was been superb, but nature presented some challenges.  Two nights in April produced 25 degree temperatures a large low area of the vineyard where over a acre of fruit and even some vines were lost.  Later in the season, dehydration further reduced the crop.  Over 16 tons were harvested on 4-6 September all going to Silver Mountain Vineyards for production under three labels: their own, Sonnet Wine Cellars and Muns Vineyard.

2008:   This is the first year all vineyard blocks are producing--twelve acres of Pinot Noir and one acre of Syrah.  Pinot Noir was harvested from 29 August to 2 September, our earliest.  The yield is our lowest ever at around 1.5 ton/acre.  Vineyards across the state are reporting much lower cluster weights, so while it looks like there is a lot of fruit, there really isn't.  3 tons of Syrah was harvested the third week of September.

2009:   This vintage was like 2006 in terms of yield.  With the entire vineyard now producing, we harvested 36+ tons of Pinot Noir and 2 tons of Syrah.  We had lots of winter rain and a somewhat cooler growing season.  This resulted in first irrigation in August, compared to April in 2008 following a drought winter.  Harvest was the latest ever for this vineyard, during the third week of September for the Pinot Noir and the first week of October for the Syrah.

2010:    The winter leading into this season was even wetter than 2009, but the rain came in measured amounts so there was minimal erosion and maximum absorption into the soil.  Bud break was delayed due to consistently cool spring temperatures and no frost periods occurred after bud break, a first for this vineyard in ten years!  The summer continued to be relatively cooler than normal, so the season extended to our longest yet.  On 17 September we harvested 4 tons of clone 115 for sparkling Pinot Noir at 19 Brix.  On 1 October we harvested 6 tons of all four clones for our estate Pinot Noir at 25 Brix.  We felt the rest of the vineyard (30+ tons) could still use some more hang time to ripen the flavors even more, so we postponed harvest for another week or two.  We ultimately harvested 49 tons of Pinot Noir by the end of October and after three rains.  On 3 Novembe we harvested 4.2 tons of Syrah.

2011:   Yet another winter with lots of rain that has extended into early June.  This cool spring has stalled growth with shoots just 12-18" and bloom not started.  This is probably good because heavy rains can disturb bloom and reduce fruit set.  The foilage is lime-green in color, indicating the inability of the vines to take up nutrients in cool temperatures (50-60 degrees F).  At this point we are 2-3 weeks behind normal development and looking for warmer weather to allow the vines to take off for the season.  The season finished out relatively cool and we harvested only 19 tons of Pinot Noir on 8-10 October.  The cluster weights were deceptively light so yield was about half expected.  3.5 tons of Syrah were harvested on 29 October.

2012:  Bud break was the latest ever in late April, but bloom and fruit set caught up to our typical season.  Assuming the season continued "typically", we expected to harvest the Pinot in mid-September and the Syrah in early October.  There were a lot of Pinot Noir clusters and fruit-thinning is needed to balance the crop with the vegetative growth.  45.1 tons of Pinot Noir were harvested from 10-24 September as the blocks each reached optimum ripeness and 3.2 tons of Syrah were harvested on 1 October. 

Artists Gallery

Paintings of Muns Vineyard by local artists (more in Artists Gallery) ...

  
                            Pastel of Muns Vineyard, by Claire Verbiest                                                   Muns Vineyard - Pinot Noir, by W.M. Vinci

Contact Information

Telephone
408-234-2079
FAX
408-353-6107
Postal address
Post Office Box 1877, Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877
Electronic mail
General Information: info@munsvineyard.com
Sales: sales@munsvineyard.com
Customer Support: support@munsvineyard.com
Webmaster: webmaster@munsvineyard.com

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Last modified: 20 January 2012 18:58 -0600