Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir 2015
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Wine &
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Robert
Parker
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Layers of coastal spice, boysenberry, and ripe raspberry provide intense aromatics. On the palate, hibiscus and bergamot flavors are held together by firm but fine-grained tannins with bracing acidity and seductive complexity
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Wine & Spirits
Dave Keatley was the winemaker in 2015, working with Matt Osgood, the viticulturist on site, and the Huneeus family, who partnered with the Flowers in 2009. The team produced a fresh, lively vintage, the fruit fully ripe, even as it maintains the foresty cool of the surrounding hills. Notes of oregano and sassafras add another layer to the scents of roses and orange spice. It’s clean, sustaining its brightness and building flavor complexity over the course of several days, continuously calling for roast duck. And it has the stamina to age well.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge gives up lovely lavender, powdered cinnamon, cloves and menthol notes over a core of kirsch and black cherries with a waft of garrigue. Medium-bodied and with a solid foundation of chewy tannins and just enough freshness, it has great red fruit and spice box intensity with excellent persistence.
Rating: 93(+)
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Over 25 years ago, Flowers Vineyards and Winery pioneered the growing of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the rugged coastal ridges of the extreme Sonoma Coast. Joan and Walt Flowers had a simple goal, to make exceptional wine that captures the wild beauty of the land and the spirit of the Sonoma Coast. This idea continues to drive everything we do - farming responsibly, harvesting by hand, using 100% native fermentation, and making wine with minimal intervention. Our unwavering commitment to crafting distinctive wines that capture the spirit of the Sonoma Coast has been the bedrock of our success, and it will continue to drive us forward for years to come.
Perched on top of soaring coastal ridges that border the nearby Pacific Ocean, our estate vineyards, Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge, rise to impressive elevations from 1,150 to 1,875 feet. Flowers resides in the Fort Ross-Seaview American Viticulture Area (AVA), which was established in 2012 and located on the extreme western edge of the Sonoma Coast Appellation. Defined by elevation, rugged terrain and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, vineyard plantings are limited to 920-1,800+ft above sea level and are only 2% of the total AVA acreage.
The Pacific Ocean is less than two miles from the vineyards, generating cooling sea breezes and coastal fog while the soaring elevations ensure abundant sunshine for a long, slow growing season. Together they create an ideal environment for elegant and nuanced Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.