Pahlmeyer Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2006
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The 2006 Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir has a deep dark garnet color. In the glass the aromas open immediately, revealing layers of rich dense fruit, earth and sweet spices. The palate also offers layers upon layers of concentrated small berries, black raspberry and cherries, balanced with nicely integrated oak. This full bodied wine finishes with finesse and long lingering flavors.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are 1,600 cases of the 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, a 100% destemmed cuvee made from Dijon clones 667, 828, and 777. It reveals classic Cote de Nuits aromas of damp forest floor, black raspberries, cherries, and spring flowers. With terrific fruit, full body, ripe tannin, and a round, generous, savory mouthfeel already displaying tremendous complexity, it should drink well for 7-8 years. Almost half of the fruit comes from Pahlmeyer’s own 24-acre Pinot Noir parcel at his Sonoma Coast vineyard called Wayfarer. Things just seem to get better and better at Pahlmeyer, a long-standing, brilliant, remarkably consistent source for one of Napa’s finest Merlots, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs.
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Pahlmeyer was founded in 1986, by a desire to be great by its eponymous creator Jayson Pahlmeyer. With a dream to create a California Mouton, Jayson and his partners spared no resource to make this dream a reality. Whether it was finding the perfect piece of land high atop Napa Valley’s Atlas Peak or covertly smuggling in Bordeaux cuttings, all pieces of Pahlmeyer’s history have led to its place as one of the top brand names from Napa Valley. From the very beginning, Pahlmeyer has been dedicated to crafting fine wines from the best fruit sources possible. In California, this means high elevation mountain sites, where the grapes are afforded more sunlight, cooler temperatures, and less fertile soils, which together create ideal conditions. Pahlmeyer sources the majority of their fruit from four key locations: Pahlmeyer Estate (Atlas Peak), Stagecoach (Atlas Peak / Pritchard Hill), Rancho Chimiles, and Antica.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.