Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Dehlinger’s Pinot Noirs are so reasonably priced that consumers may overlook them. I just finished my last bottle of his 1994 Reserve, and it was still drinking beautifully. There are only 250 cases of the 2004 Pinot Noir Reserve, which is produced entirely from hillside sites. With a sweet mid-section, admirable ripeness, acidity, purity, texture, and elegance, a medium to full-bodied palate, and loads of black raspberry, plum, black cherries, and notions of forest floor as well as subtle oak, it should age nicely for a decade or more.
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.