Winemaker Notes
The wine has a vibrant medium-light Burgundy color with effusive aromas of sweet red and black fruits (raspberry and blackberry), rosemary, and orange blossom. The flavors are both lithe and brooding at the same time with the same raspberries and blackberries from the aroma along with a beautiful richness of sauteed mushrooms, wild sage, and soy sauce. The wine is medium-bodied, full of rich Pinot Noir flavor with an exotically long finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This earthier Pinot Noir is a deep garnet color, with flickering hints of a darker edge glint as the glass swirls. The nose is a woodsy affair, with aromas of cedar, black tea and tart black cherry emerging. Savory, lithe and balanced, the palate has a woodsy tannic grip at the finish.
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.