Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very pretty red with dried berry and strawberry character. Soy sauce. Some fresh floral and mushroom character. Full bodied, round and layered with chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Lovely length and structure.
Barrel Sample: 96-97 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard is medium ruby-purple colored with exuberant redcurrants, black cherries and black raspberries notes with hints of violets, chocolate box and rose hip tea. The palate is full-bodied with a firm frame of fine-grained tannins and amazing freshness, finishing very long and juicy.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy and well-sculpted, with dried rose petal, raspberry tart and crushed dark plum flavors, supported by medium-grained tannins and lively acidity. Red licorice accents emerge on the fresh, minerally finish. Drink now through 2024. 707 cases made.
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.