Big Basin Woodruff Family Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Relatively light in color, this lower-alcohol wine from a vineyard in the Corralitos area shows dried rose petals, bergamot, lavender, cinnamon and a tiny bit of mushroomy funk on the nose. Once sipped, pomegranate, dark cranberry and orange-peel elements are lifted by pencil lead, rosemary and a strong thyme component.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another focused, lean, yet incredibly classy effort is the 2013 Pinot Noir Woodruff Vineyard. It offers notes of gunpowder, rose petals, violets and passion fruit to go with medium-bodied depth and richness, integrated acidity and fine tannin on the finish. Fermented with 75% whole clusters and aged 15 months (like all the Pinot Noirs here, never racked, and bottled unfined and unfiltered) in French oak, give it a year or two and drink it through 2023.
Located in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Basin Vineyards is terraced into a steep hillside first planted to grape vines by French immigrants over 100 years ago. Their winery and the vineyards they work with are located at sites in the Santa Cruz and Gabilan Mountains that are as beautiful as they are exceptional for grape growing. They farm organically and practice minimal-intervention winemaking with the goal of producing wines that transparently and authentically express site and variety.
Big Basin believes that their choice of vineyards, picking at the right time to retain intensity and elegance, and minimalistic winemaking practices are the keys to producing more aromatic and ethereal wines - new world wines with old world soul. Owner and winemaker Bradley Brown has been on a 20 year quest to produce beautiful and soulful wines. Winemaker Blake Yarger joined the team in 2017 and together they are always fine tuning practices to more transparently express the vineyards.
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.