Ojai Fe Ciega Pinot Noir 2017
-
Jeb
Dunnuck - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Ojai Fe Ciega Pinot Noir opens with deep and contoured flavors of dark cherry and sweet rhubarb dominate its entry. Those come on with the feel of a glassy and shapely wave, coating the palate and leaving not spray but eddies going downward. Tannins are fine, graphite like. After air quiets the fruit a bit, those earthy Fe Ciega facets present themselves, with aromas of five spice (fennel seed for sure), new leather, moss and wool. It’s lusciously fruitful but dank and woodsy as well.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard is as classic a Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir as I could image and offers beautiful red currants, forest floors, dried flowers, and underbrush aromas and flavors. With a great texture, present yet ripe tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish, you can drink bottles today or cellar for over a decade.
-
Decanter
The 2017 vintage of The Ojai Vineyard’s Bien Nacido Chardonnay saw only neutral French Oak and was barrel aged for 9 months. Showing the often forward nature of this vintage, it is floral and exuberant, giving off aromas of honeysuckle and lemon peels. The palate is weighty but maintains clarity and balance, with a crisp and zippy structure finishing up this extravagant but poised wine. Drinking Window 2019 - 2029
Other Vintages
2020-
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
Adam had planted a vineyard in Ojai to Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc and had begun producing wine from that fruit in 1983. When the collaboration with Clendenen ended he concentrated all his attention on The Ojai Vineyard to further explore the infinite details of his craft.
Looking back over the last 25 years, one can see the development of The Ojai Vineyard came in three distinct phases. In the beginning it was lots of fun discovering the budding Santa Barbara County, experimenting with new plantings, new areas, and a wide selection of varietals; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and other Rhone varietals. Back in 1983 the vines were grown without much care in what was called a California sprawl. It took years to get growers to move towards progressive practices like drip irrigation and vertical trellising to improved wine grape quality.
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.