Winemaker Notes
Dune & Mountain Pinot is sourced from two exceptional vineyards in the Gabilan Mountains that push the limits of the region in terms of elevation and proximity to the bay. The nose is bright berry fruit and spice with hints of violet floral notes. The palate shows firm tannins and a bracing acidity. There is an intensity of berry fruit that is classic of the winery's Coastview Pinot with underlying mineral notes from the Rodnick.Farm fruit. A great value, this wine punches far above it's weight.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Another stellar Pinot Noir in this range from Big Basin, the 2022 Pinot Noir Dune and Mountain comes from two sites at elevation in the Gabilan Mountains (Coastview and Rodnick.farm). Elegant and floral, its base layer of sweet cherry fruit gives way to spiced orange rind and a kick of saltiness that makes this particularly intriguing on the close. Once again, transparent winemaking here yielded a wine of utter class. The sumptuous, sexy mouthfeel is a thing of beauty. As it happens, if you take two great sites and blend them together, you can make a great wine—what a concept!
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Pinot Noir Dune and Mountain is sourced from Coastview and Rodnick Farm, two sites with limestone and decomposed quartz. The wine is 100% whole-cluster fermented with native yeast and is expressive in red and orange fruit and has medium-bodied power. Nicely textured and slightly reductive, the highlights include notes of forest, sage, and chaparral.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromatically energetic and texturally slender, the 2022 Pinot Noir Dune & Mountain is a lovely introduction to Big Basin's vibrant, pure style. Red fruits, crushed stones and savory woody notes leap from the glass, leading to a silky, direct palate and a refreshing and taut finish. The wine is made from a blend of fruit from the Coastview and Rodnick Farm sites.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rustic aromas of rust, bay leaf, dark berry and wildfire show on the nose of this whole-cluster blend of Coastview and Rodnick Farm vineyards. The young palate is well-structured, offering black plum, forest spice and dark clove flavors.
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 geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.