Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir shows violet and blueberry characteristics, along with earth, hints of black tea and a long smoky finish.
Vegan
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard is slightly deep ruby-colored and has a distinctly floral, perfumed character in its red fruits, violets, iris flower, and orange rind aromas and flavors. Like all these releases from Byron, it's elegant, silky, and pure on the palate, with beautiful balance. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made using 45% new oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard has a pale to medium ruby color and opens with oak aromas of chocolate and nutmeg, fleshing out to potpourri, black tea leaves, cocoa, red cherry sparks and black cherries with savory/meaty accents—that oak is present, but there's plenty else here of interest and depth. Medium-bodied, it's lushly fruited in the mouth with tons of spice, very finely grained tannins and wonderful juicy freshness, finishing long and chocolaty. Give this plenty more time in bottle.
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.