Winemaker Notes
Vines are tended to a meager yield each year due to clonal selection, inter-vine competition and aggressive vine-by-vine farming management. What arrives in the glass is a full-throttle expression of mountain-side, Heritage-selection Pinot Noir flavors—a tendency toward black fruit, accented by streaks of forest floor, clove spice and white flowers. These wines provide both depth and intensity, framed by a structure built to evolve for years in the cellar. A no-holds barred Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
The core of dark berry, cherry and plum flavors edges toward a pleasing jammy character without crossing the line, with anise and crushed rock notes. Pleasantly chewy.
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.”
Defined more by altitude than geographical outline, the Sonoma Mountain appellation occupies elevations between 400 and 1,200 feet on the northern and eastern slopes of the actual Sonoma Mountain and is part of the greater Sonoma Valley appellation. The mountain reaches 2,400 feet; its hills separate the cooling winds of Petaluma Gap from the Sonoma Valley.
On a cooler western flank, Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Syrah enjoy a great deal of success. Vineyards on its warmer, eastern side, interspersed with heavily forested areas, tend to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Syrah. Given its complexity of topography and mesoclimates, Sonoma Mountain excels with a wide range of grape varieties.