Winemaker Notes
This Pinot Noir exemplifies the vivid excellence of the Edna Valley region with expressive dark fruit notes of currants and blueberries, complemented by hints of vanilla and cherry cola, while brilliant acidity is balanced by ripe cherry and brown sugar, and soft, supple tannins carry through to a long, memorable finish.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Roast coffee and sweet earth are behind the depth of flavor and mouthfeel of this Pinot Noir from one of California's coolest grape-growing regions. Its freshness is augmented by defined minerality and underlying savory tones of cigar leaf, black cherry, and black pepper.
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.”
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.