Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Tight red cherries, dried sweet sage, crushed graphite and a touch of smoke show on this clonal study by Richard Sanford and winemaker Nick De Luca. Snappy raspberry fruit meets with pencil lead on the fairly delicate palate, showing that is bound by a tart structure that will ensure long ageability.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir la Encantada Vineyard Clone 667 is more earthy and savory, with lots of dried herbs, leather, spice and sweet red and black fruits on the nose. Medium-bodied, full, layered and nicely textured, it was 80% destemmed and aged 15 months in 20% new French oak. It's an outstanding Pinot Noir that shows plenty of Sta. Rita Hills character and should drink nicely over the coming 4-6 years.
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.