Reasonable people do not have more than 2 children, so I have been told. Once you breach the “2” mark you go from man-to-man to zone coverage. Any student of basketball knows this opens up the lanes to quick hands in the cookie jar, alley oops followed by peals of laughter, and behind-the-back sibling rough-housing. My wife and I plan to be prudent people by heeding this cautionary advice and not attempting to have more than two children. I have never been that talented at basketball anyway.

But the greater Peay family could not resist the temptation to make a third Pinot noir. Like any conscientious parent we did not want to rob our existing children – Pomarium and Scallop Shelf – of their time in the sun. So we planted new blocks with different clones and selections of Pinot noir. As these blocks went through their fourth and fifth leafs, we bottled the wine under a different label to maintain the distinct character and quality of our existing wines. Only in 2007, when they had reached their sixth leaf, did we make a third Peay Pinot noir from these vines: The Estate. Like the name? Well, we could have selected a Greek name to go with our Latin one, Pomarium. In any event, the Estate is a beautiful wine with its own unique position in the Peay family of estate-grown Pinot noirs. Though you will discover similarities in breed and structure when comparing it to Scallop Shelf or Pomarium, it is a typical third child: brash, untamed and pleasure-seeking.