Winemaker Notes
This reticent Pinot Noir, with aeration, reveals a nose of perfumed red and black cherries, dried cranberries, star anise, and cedar. The palate is silky and nuanced, with spice-laced flavor layers energized by lip-smacking acidity. Lovely now, it will only grow more profound with some cellar time.
This complex, layered Pinot pairs well with roast turkey, Peking duck, oak-grilled pork chops, or a lamb roast.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Very light colored in the glass, this bottling by a legendary producer from the region's most important vineyard begins with aromas of crisp raspberry, pomegranate and rose petals on the delicate yet inviting nose. The palate is energized with fresh and zippy acidity that presents flavors of pomegranate, lemon peel and peppercorn.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is scented of raspberry preserves and cranberry sauce with nuances of saline, tea leaves and underbrush. The medium-bodied palate is grainy and fresh, with a concentrated core of elegantly earthy fruit and a long finish with spice and floral accents.
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.”
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.