Winemaker Notes
In the 2014 Rodgers Creek Pinot Noir, pretty floral aromas first appear, with ripe cherry, apple blossom and delicate oak spice notes. Baking spice and dark chocolate flavors appear on the palate, but they do so in harmony with raspberry bramble, creating a sensation of both decadence and freshness. Red fruits carry the finish with tart cranberry, Bing cherry and licorice flavors lingering long after each sip.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014s, which will be released next year, all look strong and of similar quality to their 2013 counterparts. The fruit is ripe, the texture is terrific and they are gorgeous Pinot Noirs, but more on them when we get closer to release date. Sadly, the production of all of these Pinot Noirs is relatively small, just like the Cabernet Sauvignons,
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Wine Enthusiast
Cloudy, pungent and supremely earthy, this wine reveals its delicate acidity over time, bringing balance to its flamboyant fruit. With intense strawberry, orange peel and black tea flavors, it's savory and richly built, finishing on a touch of smoky vanilla.
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Wine Spectator
Openly fruity and friendly to drink, with a supple core of black cherry, plum and wild berry flavors that are rich and polished, tapping into notes of smoky, toasty oak, anise, floral and spice. Gains depth, persistence and length. Drink now.
Cherry Pie is all about one thing: location. Single and multi-vineyard wines that have a distinct sense of place. From cool, well-draining sites at sea-level to wind-blown, elevated vineyards on steep slopes, each cluster begins with the influence of its surroundings. Vineyards for Cherry Pie are chosen as if they are buying a home–carefully selecting a place to live, to set down roots, to embrace the culture of the neighborhood. A place that will leave a distinct imprint from harvest to bottle.
The Cherry Pie founder was inspired by his grandmother’s baking and the artwork of TR Colletta, Cherry Pie is at once a rich and layered, redolent of the flavors and aromas of something delicious and beautiful, being made with care. The painting by artist TR Colletta of a juicy, mouthwatering hot-out-of-the-oven cherry pie was the perfect visual to pair with Cherry Pie wines. If you look closely, in the very middle of the pie you will see an image of a woman dancing with joy--which expresses their love for Pinot Noir.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.