Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The yields were so low in 2015 that Bradley Brown had to cajole Richard Alfaro for enough fruit to fill a fermenter and, eventually, four barrels, for this wine. The vineyard is located on the northeastern side of the Gabilan Mountains, just above Corralitos, at an elevation of 1,000 feet. Brown was happy enough with the ripeness of the stems that he fermented this wine as whole bunches, and the resulting pinot noir delivers power directly out of the tannins, dense and closed off when you pull the cork. A day later, it’s open and racy, and it doesn’t stop generating umami energy, a compression of rose-petal, red-apple-skin and black-mushroom flavors. If you’re looking for a seductive pinot fix, look no further.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Pinot Noir Alfaro Family Vineyard from Big Basin offers up a deep bouquet of plums, raspberries, forest floor and currant leaf, with some whole-cluster spice on the upper register. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, richly layered and savory, structured around fine-grained but chewy tannins, some of them stem-derived, and balanced by juicy acids. Nicely concentrated and balanced, this is also quite youthfully tight-knit and will need a few years in the cellar to unwind.
Rating: 93+ -
Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2015 Pinot Noir Alfaro Family Vineyard from Big Basin and this beauty was fermented with 100% whole clusters and spent 15 months in 25% new French oak. It's a dark fruited, smoky, earthy Pinot Noir that offer lots of blackcurrant, black raspberry, smoked herbs and earth in a medium-bodied, rich, structured, slightly chunky style. I love its fruit, but it needs short term cellaring.
Rating: 92+
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.”
A rugged and topographically diverse cool-climate appellation with a rich history, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA stretches from Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, to the northern border of Monterey County. Elevations range from 800 feet to upwards of 3,000 and microclimates vary substantially depending on which side of the mountains the vineyards lie; cool ocean winds and fog play an important role here. This can be a challenging region in which to grow grapes, but it is well worth the effort. Santa Cruz Mountains wines are noted for balanced acidity levels, often showing great aging potential. Wine has been made here since the 1800s, most notably from the legendary Ridge Vineyards, whose Monte Bello vineyard garners international admiration.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the stars of this region, while Merlot and Zinfandel also perform quite well. Organic and sustainable vineyard practices are becoming increasingly common.