Chime Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2009
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Wine Enthusiast
The wine is dry, silky in texture and crisp in acids, showing the textural hallmarks of a fine coastal bottling. The raspberry, cherry, cola and spice flavors are delicious and complex. A terrific value. - Editor's Choice
Chime is about finding the perfect combination of a dedicated grape grower, an appropriate cultivar and an artisan winemaker to deliver consumers the best possible wine nature will allow. Sometimes our relentless focus on Place, Grapes and People means that we don’t make the best short term business decisions. We might bottle up a Dry Creek Cabernet as Sonoma Valley, for instance, or a Lodi Cabernet as California. We can live with this reality if it means that we are fulfilling our broader mission of delivering the best possible wine nature will allow.
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.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.