Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The shape of this wine has a formal elegance, a clarification of what pinot can achieve when grown with care in the cool ridges of the Mendocino coast. It comes from a dry-farmed vineyard planted by the Weir brothers in the late 1990s, mostly to the Swan clone of pinot noir. While oak is present in the wine’s initial scents, bringing out notes of mint and black tea, a rose fragrance gains precedence and length with air. That floral freshness is equaled by foresty notes of wild strawberries and savory roots that may make your mouth water.
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 large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.