Winemaker Notes
Medium, full ruby/black, opaque at center. Brooding and savory. Beautifully rich, full palate of dark cherry, loganberry and hint of char, clove and cardamom. Well balanced and dense. Decant.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From another Sta. Rita Hills vineyard, the 2016 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix was all destemmed and spent 20 months in 25% new French oak. It's more reserved aromatically yet offers plenty of candied cherry and blackberry fruits intermixed with herbes de Provence, incense, and peppery notes. It too is medium-bodied, supple, and beautifully balanced on the palate, with terrific purity and elegance as well as good acidity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard has a pale to medium ruby-garnet color and opens with notes of autumn leaves, anise, blackberries, black raspberries and potpourri. It's light to medium-bodied with spicy red and black fruits, soft, grainy tannins and juicy acidity, finishing spicy.
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 superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.