Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Pinot Noir Estate is concentrated and structured and will benefit from more bottle time. Medium ruby, it has intense aromas of dried cranberry, burnt orange peel, cinnamon stick, aniseed, tar and chaparral. The medium-bodied palate is chalky and fresh with crunchy red fruits and loads of botanical and earthy accents, and it finishes with a touch of sweet spice across the finish.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Pinot Noir Estate comes from the estate vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills and was brought up in 25% new French oak. It has a vivid ruby/plum hue to go with a classic bouquet of ripe raspberries, spicy herbs, scorched earth, and obvious minerality, which is more apparent on the palate. Medium-bodied, pure, and precise, it has plenty of tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's a brilliant bottle of wine, but it needs 2-3 years of bottle age.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Ripe black cherry and smoked-meat aromas make for a compelling nose on this estate bottling. There's a firm textural grip to the palate, where black raspberry, fennel frond and peppercorn flavors lead into a minty licorice finish. Drink now–2040.
Cellar Selection
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.