Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This tiny, isolated two-acre vineyard near Freestone is bordered on all sides by coastal evergreens. Its sandstone-based soils grew some beautiful fruit in 2013. Ross Cobb’s even hand coaxed that fruit into a pinot noir with a diaphanous clarity that might make you hold your breath, if you didn’t want to keep smelling the wine: a hint of strawberry, the airy leafiness of oolong tea, the lift of rose petals. It has a quiet but captivating persistence, nothing excessive, nothing missing—the vinous equivalent of a Basho haiku.
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Wine Enthusiast
Jack Hill is a steep, cold site near Occidental, made hearty by the winds of the Pacific Ocean. The grapes in this bottling take on a caramelized, grenadine/kirsch-like richness. Tangy cranberry and citrus, layered atop a light, bright body, are girded by an underlying juiciness.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.