Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Classic Pinot flavors of red cherry, black tea and lightly toasted oak come together beautifully in this balanced, nuanced wine. Fruit, woody spices and light tannins converge on the palate and linger on the finish.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Decoy Pinot Noir exhibits excellent purity and trueness of this grape variety. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings pleasing aromas and flavors of strawberry preserves and chalk. Enjoy it with a grilled salmon fillet. (Tasted: June 14, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Internationally recognized for gorgeous, pure fruit combined with great elegance, California Pinot noir thrives among the state’s cooler, coastal zones. Characterized by eclectic flavors and aromas of strawberry, black cherry, plum and potpourri with notes of forest floor, mushroom or black tea, the best California Pinot noir boast a supple texture and good acidity, giving them the ability to improve with age.
Credited with the beginning of Pinot noir’s glory in California, two growers, Joe Rochioli and Joseph Swan in the late 1960s independently planted Pinot noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Today Sonoma County remains the leading producer of Pinot noir in the state, and Pinot noir is the leading red grape in the county, achieving its highest potential, in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
Other coastal appellations where Pinot noir flourishes include Carneros, Anderson Valley and most of the Central Coast.