Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard comes across as very tight, but then opens up, with plums, black cherries, tar, minerals and licorice some of the nuances taking shape in the glass. The 2010 UV needs another year or two in bottle at the very least. There is an element of unrestrained wildness that runs through the 2010 UV. The heavy presence of clay in this site comes through in the wine’s broad-shouldered personality. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020.
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Wine Spectator
Very intense and vibrant, this is the most rangy and angular of the 2010 Auberts, possessing a tight core of raspberry, plum jam, black licorice, fresh earth and fresh-cut herbs. Firming and drying on the finish. Best from 2014 through 2022.
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.