Winemaker Notes
#29 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2024
The 2021 Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir is bright, lively and beautifully composed with enticing aromas of Rainier cherry, sage and white pepper. On the palate, alluring layers of blackberry, Bing cherry and sarsaparilla are underscored by sleek, age-worthy tannins and that carry the wine to a long, focused finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A packed red, with a core of mulled dark currant, black cherry and blackberry paste flavors that are dense yet defined, while singed anise, alder and warm earth notes fill in throughout. The rigid structure carries the finish, leaving a chalky, mouthwatering echo. With the fruit to match its matrix, this should be a beauty at its peak.
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Vinous
Broad-shouldered and edgy, the 2021 Pinot Noir Ryan Vineyard is a forceful, imposing Pinot with inky, spicy blue/black fruit buried beneath a shield of mountain tannin. Muscle and power are the hallmarks of this site, and the 2021 delivers all that and more. Deep and brooding, the long growing season imbued the Ryan with fantastic complexity. Park the car for a while and wait for this to come around—you’ll be handsomely rewarded.
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James Suckling
So generous, ripe and rich, but firmly wrapped in tannins and fresh acidity. This tension gives the wine super appeal, balancing the gorgeous strawberry and red cherry notes with a firm texture, leading to nuances of sour cherries, star anise and white pepper.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
First produced in 375ml bottles in 1978 as one of the winery's founding vineyards, alongside Selleck and Jensen, the 2021 Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir is stylish and nicely built on the palate with a delectable and lasting impression. This wine shines with aromas and flavors of savory spices, hints of rustic earth, and black cherries. Enjoy it with a classic Duck Confit. (Tasted: January 30, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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.