Winemaker Notes
Displaying a deep dark ruby color, the 2021 Alma Rosa Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir is aromatic and vibrant on the nose. Made up of fruit primarily from their El Jabali estate, it also includes fruit from select vineyard partners across the southern corridor of the Sta. Rita Hills. Representative of the great growing season in the region, this wine shows plump notes of freshly picked strawberries, raspberries, red currants and orange peel, layered with bracing notes of ocean mist, rose petals, sage and thyme. Bright, with mouthwatering acidity and noted salinity, firm tannins are well pronounced, but smooth, providing good structure and a long and complex finish. On the palate, pleasing notes of fresh raspberries and cranberries prevail. Complex, vibrant and seductive, this Pinot Noir expresses the best characteristics of the Sta. Rita Hills' exceptional and unique terroir.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Strawberries with iodine, iron and some terra cotta. Medium body with firm, fine tannins. Orange peel. Bright and focused.
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Wine Enthusiast
Muddle mulberry and rich purple flower aromas are spiced by mace and nutmeg on the nose of this appellation blend. The palate is crowd-pleasingly bold, offering baked blackberry and raspberry alongside chai flavors, with plenty of acidity to keep the wine engaging far into the finish.
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.