Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
California bay, black cherries, rose petals, and hints of spice all emerge from the 2015 Pinot Noir RRV Keefer Ranch Vineyard, which comes from a terrific vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Like all the wines here, it's silky and seamless on the palate, with medium-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannin, and a great finish. Aged 15 months in 45% new French oak, it’s going to keep for a decade or more.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch features fragrant notes of potpourri, cinnamon stick and Ceylon tea with a core of chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry tart and red currant jelly. The palate is medium to full-bodied with tons of juicy red berry flavors, seamless freshness and fine-grained tannins leading to a long, perfumed finish.
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Wine Spectator
With a charming, rich core of red berry, cherry, plum and spice flavors, this red is thoroughly pure and enticing, texturally supple and easy to warm up to. Drink now through 2023.
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.