Winemaker Notes
Vibrant ruby in color, the wine is bursting with aromas of juicy pomegranate, bing cherry, and rhubarb, with hints of earl grey tea and cinnamon. Elegantly layered notes of ripe strawberry, raspberry, and fennel fronds create a harmonious and lifted palate accented by a delicate acidity and a subtle salinity, which hearkens to its source along the ‘true’ Sonoma Coast.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely fresh and fruity with plums and dried strawberries, as well as a citrus-peel undertone. Full body, light tannins and a delicious finish. Fruit-forward pinot noir.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir is made with about 72% estate fruit and very little oak. It's a fresh style with open-knit aromas of roast cranberry and rhubarb with touches of dried leaves, soil and tar. The palate is medium-bodied, bright and juicy with good concentration and spiciness and a lifted finish. Enjoy it over the next two to three years. 19,500 cases produced.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast comes from multiple sites on the Sonoma Coast and saw a touch of stems and 9 months on lees in 11% new French oak. Its ruby hue gives way to a pretty, strawberry, spice, and brambly, forest floor-laced Pinot Noir that has good acidity, plenty of sweet fruit, no hard edges, and a clean finish. It's well worth seeking out.
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Wine Spectator
This features minerally snap to the red currant, plum and raspberry flavors, backed by silky tannins and acidity. Toasty accents linger on the crisp finish. Drink now through 2024.
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.