John Tyler Wines Pinot Noir

John Tyler Pinot Noir

Our family has always held a special place in our hearts for the Pinot Noir grape. Back in 1956 my grandfather–Charles Bacigalupi–took the advice of then University of California farm adviser Bob Sisson to plant Pinot in the Russian River Valley. Before this my grandfather had never heard of the Pinot grape and said he had to write the name down to keep from forgetting it.

He obtained the original budwood from Karl Wente and planted 14 acres. Today we farm 5 different clones of Pinot Noir and my dad will tell you that Pinot is definitely the hardest grape to grow. Its thin skin makes it more susceptible to mold and frost and picking must be done by hand.

We are fortunate that the Russian River provides the ideal growing condition and, despite the difficulties Pinot still remains our family’s favorite and most cherished varietal.  Carrying on my grandfather’s vision for this grape we produced our first vintage of Pinot Noir under the John Tyler label in 2002.