Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even more stunning is the 2013 Pinot Noir, which received similar treatment to the 2012. This wine shows complex forest floor notes, damp earth and Asian plum sauce interwoven with blackcurrant and black cherry as well as hints of underbrush and spring flowers. Deep, rich, complex and showing loads of fruit, it should be drunk over the next 5-7 years.
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Wine Spectator
Bold, rich and assertive, with lively acidity and a tight, dense core of raspberry and blackberry, revealing rose, anise and spice scents. Supple, graceful and deep, this ends with a long, rich aftertaste and a supple, caressing texture.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.