Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
As with the 2015 Jack Hill, the 2016 vintage has a lot of twists and turns in its trajectory. It is ripe and punchy on the nose, showing aromas of cherry compote and roasted pine needles. The texture is sappy, plush and saline. A hint of fresh roses combines with earthy, charred asphalt notes on the finish. Another Cobb wine that will reward extended cellaring. Drinking Window 2020 - 2036
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The pale ruby colored 2016 Pinot Noir Jack Hill Vineyard is scented of pomegranate liqueur, Bing cherry and cranberry with exotic spices, lilac, bergamot, wet leaves and earth. Light to medium-bodied, the silky texture segues into firm, grainy tannins, and juicy acidity provides support for the concentrated flavor layers and the long, layered finish. Outstanding.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a cold, steep site, Jack Hill is fleshy, spicy and integrated, brimming promisingly with a wealth of dark cherry, strawberry and blood orange. A tease of cola and cardamom give it a powerful middle of nuanced richness around a body of firm integrated tannin.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Pinot Noir Jack Hill comes from a site in the Sonoma Coast and was aged 22 months in 30% new French oak. It has classy notes of black cherries, raspberries, smoked applewood, spice, and some sappy forest floor and rose petal notes as well as medium body, bright acidity, and a straight, focused texture. It's nicely made, opens up with time in the glass, and will benefit from a year or three of bottle age.
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.