Winemaker Notes
Crafted from up to 100 individual small lots, the appealing Russian River Valley Pinot Noir captures the classic characteristics of this renowned variety and region. Deeply layered and velvet-smooth, offering notes of perfectly ripe blackberry, black cherry, dark plum and cranberry that blend with hints of toast, spice, lavender and rose. Rich oak sweetness characteristics feature on the mid-palate, while soft tannins add intriguing texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This regular bottling of J’s Russian River pinot noir includes elements of 100 different lots from up and down the appellation. It has all the elements of black cherries, cola, oak spices and forest floor on a full body with moderate tannins and 30% new-oak influence.
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Wine Spectator
An enticing red, with vivid raspberry and cherry notes laced with hints of savory, mulling spices and rooibos tea, this stretches out nicely through the finish, gilded gently with cinnamon and sous-bois. Drink now through 2028. 19,000 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
It’s scented of cranberries, red cherries, pipe tobacco, mushrooms and wild fennel. The medium-bodied palate has a youthfully dense core of red fruit matched by generous new oak spice and a long, savory finish. 19,000 cases produced.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.