Winemaker Notes
Equal parts juicy, luscious and fresh throughout, this release has become out of the great, consistent values found in Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Red fruits with fresh flowers and herbs on the nose lead to darker fruits balanced with a subtle, spice-driven grit on the palate. A blend of sites with radically different soil types, ranging from diatomaceous earth, shale, clay and sand.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Equal parts juicy, luscious and fresh throughout, this release has become out of the great, consistent values found in Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Red fruits with fresh flowers and herbs on the nose lead to darker fruits balanced with a subtle, spice-driven grit on the palate. A blend of sites with radically different soil types, ranging from diatomaceous earth, shale, clay and sand.
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Wine Enthusiast
Baked mulberry and cola aromas meet with a toasty oak frame on the nose of this bottling from a historic vineyard. The palate is wildly complex, ranging from bright acid-driven red fruit to smokier hints of leather to baked soil, and finishes on a lingering vanilla tone.
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.