Winemaker Notes
The terroir of Russian River Valley reigns here. Cherry, and raspberry hold court as bright tannins frame and support its lusciousness with deft use of French oak and restraint. Elegant to the core. A Pinot Noir purist's dream.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley boasts a deeper but bright red color and is another expressive wine out of the gate, with notes of preserved cherries, sweet herbs, forest floor, and pressed flowers. It expands on the palate, with a medium to full-bodied frame, ripe tannins, and a warming earth-noted spice through the finish.
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James Suckling
Ripe and rich, almost jammy in aroma and showing sweet raspberries, strawberries and cherries on the palate. Baking spices and chocolate add to its posh character. Smooth and melted in mouthfeel. Lingering finish.
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Wine Spectator
This offers good energy amid its core of raspberry and black cherry fruit paste flavors, while flashes of dried anise and singed black tea flicker through. A brambly edge adds pleasant grip to the finish. Drink now through 2027. 1,530 cases made.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.