Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a deep, dark, and structured wine from a strong, well-rounded vintage. The wine displays an almost completely opaque dark purple hue in the glass. Exotic aromas of bay leaf, macerated bramble fruit, blood orange and cedar bough emerge from the glass in concert. The palate is defined by mouth-watering freshness from front to back, marked by notes of fresh earth, cherry reduction, crushed rock and primrose. There is so much generosity and complexity to this wine, only time will tell what great notions will come to light in the bottle.
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.