Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Silky and smooth with bright, juicy cherry fruit; racy acidity and tangy style; long and crisp.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a suave and supple wine, with a luxuriously smooth texture. From one of Anderson Valley’s fabled vineyard sites, this offers softness and easy drinkability, balanced by a firm backing of fruit tones, acidity and fine tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Combines richness and structure with a tight beam of ripe, plump, juicy dark berry, with echoes of blackberry and blueberry. The flavors sail along gracefully on the finish. Drink now through 2021.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
From its very deep and incisively varietal aromas of ripe cherries, raspberries and toasted vanilla to its lovely, slightly velvety feel on the palate, Davies's Ferrington bottling shows good range as well as an especially careful winemaking hand. It is more savory than sweet even while being keenly fruity, and its layered flavors last and last. Its manifold immediate appeals are certain to tempt early drinking, and, make no mistake, it is thoroughly enjoyable now, but it is also exceptionally well-balanced and has the firm structural underpinnings and fruity stamina to age comfortably for many years.
Anderson Valley, located in Mendocino County just above Sonoma County, is one of California’s coolest AVAs, allowing it a long growing season. Only 15 miles long, the region makes a slice eastward through the mountains, from the frigid Pacific Ocean. Dramatic diurnal temperature variations here preserve grape acidity and thus freshness in the finished wines. These are prime conditions for growing Pinot Noir, and the valley produces many fine versions. Characteristics of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir typically include crisp acidity, cranberry and strawberry notes as well as earthy notes of forest floor and mushroom.
Still Pinot Noir, however, is only part of the story. Pinot Noir, along with Chardonnay, are also grown for Anderson Valley’s exceptional sparkling wines. Produced via the traditional method, these offer a classic toasty note from lees aging, bright, complex fruit notes and a clean, refreshing character.