Winemaker Notes
The 2021 edition of Domaine Carneros Estate Pinot Noir packs a range of delicious fruit and savory flavors. Beginning with the nose, one encounters subtle red fruits, coastal fern, and tobacco leaf. The palate delivers vibrant red fruits of cranberry and raspberry intertwined with silky creamy texture, followed by notes of spice and forest floor on the warming finish. Ten months of barrel age lends a sweetness that balances the supple tannin from this exceptional vintage producing an intense full bodied Pinot Noir. The hallmark of Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir is the texture, and this wine delivers with a supple and rich mouthfeel.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Some 20 different clones went into this marvelously moody Pinot Noir, which immediately spirits you to a forest teeming with berries, where a plume of woodsmoke rises in the background along with flickers of beet and lavender. Displaying fleshiness commensurate with its elegance, it enchants with earthy tannins and a sprinkle of cacao and black tea on the finish.
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James Suckling
Vivid flavors of fresh strawberries and orange peel with some wet earth and hints of hazelnut. Medium to full body. Fine and creamy tannins and a beautiful finish. A thoroughly lovely 2021 pinot. One of the best I have tasted from here.
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Wine Spectator
An engaging style, with a nice burst of gently steeped raspberry and strawberry notes backed by red licorice and red tea. This extroverted crowd-pleaser's structure is on the brambly side and helps drive the finish along nicely. Drink now through 2028. 4,194 cases made.
As early as the 1970s Carneros became known as a source of terrific Pinot Noir, and was one of the first California regions to gain such a reputation. The combination of sunny days, cooling fog and thin clay soils are tailor-made for the variety. Another factor in Pinot Noir’s prominent place here is vintners’ willingness to experiment widely. The history of the grape in Carneros is marked by continuous research into clonal variations, viticultural techniques and site selection. Careful evaluation over time has revealed a signature flavor profile as well. Complex aromas and flavors of cherry, red berry, spice, earth and cola appear time and again in Carneros Pinot Noir. To this day the appellation remains one of California’s standard bearers for the variety.