Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir will always have a special place in my heart. I met both the man, Josh Jensen, and his wine when I tasted the 1978 vintage upon its release when we and the wine were both young. The 2020 vintage is outstanding as it stars in the Pinot Noir category which has grown and matured exponentially. TASTING NOTES: This wine is all about purity as it shines with berries, wild strawberries, and shadings of earth. Pair it with a grilled lamb and jasmine rice. (Tasted: April 19, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
A more tannin-driven pinot with dried strawberry and lemongrass character. Medium-bodied with firm tannins and a fresh and vivid finish.
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Wine Spectator
Shows nice contrast, with a fairly broad black cherry and mulberry fruit core, which is eventually harnessed through the finish by racy red tea and mineral notes. Offers generous lively, savory chaparral notes that dart around, lending a mouthwatering edge. Delivering lovely range and character, this should develop nicely in the cellar. Best from 2025 through 2035. 1,000 cases made.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe and heavily extracted on the nose, this bottling offers dried plum, wild juniper and strong leather aromas on the nose. The palate is packed with wild chaparral herb flavors that enliven the baked red fruit and spicy leather flavors.
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.”
At elevations reaching well over 2,000 feet, the Mt. Harlan AVA in the Gabilan Range is an anomaly among its surrounding Central Coast appellations. Recognizing the splendor of the area and its ideal limestone-rich soils, Josh Jensen chose Mt. Harlan as the home of his Calera Wine Company in the 1970s. Awarded his own AVA in 1990, Calera is the only commercial winery in the appellation.