Winemaker Notes
The Sta Rita Hills program combines fruit from multiple blocks and four distinct vineyards to create complexity and balance. We have always believed that blending diverse terroirs could yield a whole which would be greater than the sum of its parts. Wines form the warmer parts of the SRH would provide dramatic fruits and baking spices, wines from the cooler portions would provide, higher toned red fruits, fresh herbs, minerals and great acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
As to the reds, you can’t go wrong with any of these. The appellation 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills offers a Gevrey-like character in its darker cherry and currant fruits as well as sous bous, leafy herbs, and earthy goodness. Ripe, medium-bodied, and flawlessly balanced, with terrific purity, don’t miss it. It’s unquestionably in the same league as the single vineyards quality-wise.
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Wine Spectator
This red is loaded with juicy acidity, backing the lively mix of cherry tart and dried raspberry flavors that are filled with savory richness. Mineral and hot stone notes on the toasty finish. Drink now through 2025.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Polish and careful crafting mark this wine from beginning to end, and, if not quite as rich or deep in fruit as the other Dragonette Pinots in 2018, it is a lovely, very refined rendition all the same with a fine and inviting, slightly velvety mouthfeel and neatly integrated acidity lending brightness and length. Admittedly hard to resist now as a partner to pan-roasted duck breasts, it has the stamina to keep and is sure to please for another four or five years.
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.