Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The rich, prodigious, full-bodied 2013 Pinot Noir UV, made from the Calera and Vosne-Romanée clones, is a denser, richer wine offering abundant notes of blueberries, blackberries, forest floor and strong hints of Asian hoisin sauce, dark fruits and forest floor. There are approximately 1,000 cases of this sensational Pinot, which Mark Aubert decanted 12 hours in advance of my visit. There is not a trace of new oak in this wine, which spent 10 months in 100% new barrels. Like all the 2013 Pinot Noirs, it has a decade or more of aging potential.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and juicy, with a rich, zesty mix of tar- and graphite-laced plum and blueberry flavors, which are supple-textured and firming nicely on the finish. The tannins show a touch of stemminess. Drink now through 2020.
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.