Winemaker Notes
This wine is a perfect accompaniment to cherry glazed ducke breast or herb roasted pork tenderloin.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Brian Maloney selects this fruit from estate vineyards (40 percent), blended with grapes from BCD, close by, and the Starkey Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills. This is Russian River pinot noir in all of its full-figured beauty, a rich, cherry-scented wine with enough intensity to take on a grilled burger with mushrooms. The alcohol isn’t shy, pointing up the grip of the tannins and the flower power of the fruit, but it’s all of a piece.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir O.F.S. delivers notes of warm raspberries and kirsch with underlying hints of garrigue, dried herbs and fertile soil plus a waft of fungi. Medium to full-bodied, it offers tons of juicy red fruit with a chewy backbone and loads of freshness, finishing on a savory note.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is big, bulky and substantial in tannin, a mark of the vintage as well as the style. On the palate, a mix of dense black cherry, cola and dried herb mingle, with a lift of acidity on the finish.
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.