Winemaker Notes
Very dark ruby color. Deep aromas of bright berries mixed with sweet toasty cedar notes. The flavors of cherries, berry pie and cola are abundant with great focus. The medium weight on the palate with balanced acidity lead the flavors through and beyond a supple, tannin laced finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Notably oaky, yet very complex, extracted and deep, with rich dark berry fruit that shows touches of spice and mineral. Picks up a hint of mocha on the finish. Drink now through 2018.
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Wine Enthusiast
Few California Pinot Noirs get riper or richer than this. It's marked by massive fruit flavors, namely of raspberries and cherries, as well as earthier notes of sauteed mushrooms, cola and tobacco. Very delicious, if a little too soft for comfort. Drink now with mushroom risotto and lamb for a glamorous combo.
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.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.