Wine of the week: Limerick Lane, 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

What do you do if you're torn between becoming an artist and a scientist?

Become a winemaker, of course.

At least that's how it played out for Scot Bilbro, winemaker of Healdsburg's Limerick Lane Cellars.

Bilbro is the winemaker behind our wine-of-the-week winner - the Limerick Lane, 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir at $36.

(Former winemaker Rick Oberlin also played a role in the 2009 pinot, fermenting the juice before it was blended, according to Bilbro.)

Asked what makes him a good match for pinot, Bilbro answered: "Maybe a better way to say it is that pinot is a good match for me. Especially here at Limerick Lane, it requires me to focus on being gentle and to look for more subtleties in flavor. Working with pinot has improved all the wines I make and probably my temperament as well."

Bilbro, who studied at UC Davis, began working at Limerick Lane last year after his brother, Jake Bilbro, bought the winery.

"It was pretty tight the way it worked out," Bilbro said. "He (Jake) called me the day he signed the papers and literally the next day I was crushing the 2011 pinot."

As for producing pinot noir, Bilbro said the most challenging part is patience.

"Oftentimes the least promising lot evolves into something unexpected," he said.

Limerick Lane doesn't have a "house style" so much as it has a "vineyard style," according to Bilbro.

"Most of our vines are quite old, with blocks planted as early as 1910," he said. "We get low yields due to the age of the vines and our farming approach."

We start harvesting before many other wineries, which leads to balanced, elegant wines that express these few acres in a very pure fashion."

When it comes to the range of pinots, Limerick Lane opts for the food-friendly version.

"All of our wines tend to be on the higher acid and lower alcohol end of the scale and therefore more food-

friendly," Bilbro said. "As our vineyard naturally produces wines with such clarity of fruit and freshness, we prefer to highlight those qualities."

The most exciting part about making pinot, Bilbro said, is developing the fruit.

"It's trying to achieve the full potential of the fruit," he said. "To play a hand in creating something that is rich and complex, but soft-spoken, is rewarding when it works."

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com.