Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From a two-acre site at 1,110-feet elevation only five miles from the Pacific Ocean, this wine opens as if it were a lovely, expansive rose garden, so fragrant and intensely earthy. Built with sizable tannic structure and toasty oak, it features burly waves of spicy acidity and warm baking spices, exhibiting both tension and grace. Drink now through 2023.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
The initial up front plum and wild berry flavors are shaded by anise and crushed rock notes, supported by firm, chewy tannins that glide along on the finish, unveiling subtle tiers of wilted rose, lavender, anise and blackberry.
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.”
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.