Winemaker Notes
The 2020 has begun drinking very well right out of the gate. The wine shows complex red and blue fruits, a touch of minerals, some baking spices, fresh herbs and forest floor in a medium bodied frame and with silky texture. Great natural acidity provides lift and length.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2020 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills reveals a medium ruby hue to go with a smoky, sappy herb, scorched earth, and both red and black-fruited perfume as well as medium-bodied richness, terrific overall balance, supple tannins, and a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills comes from several vineyards, including Radian, Bentrock, Spear, Duvarita and Rinconada. It has very savory aromas of wood smoke, pipe tobacco, dried cranberries and blackberries with touches of oolong tea leaves and mushrooms. The light-bodied palate is soft, bright and spicy with wood smoke-laced fruits and a bitters-laced finish. It feels clean, yet a slight rusticity to its expression suggests it may be best to drink this over the next couple of years. Best After 2022
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Connoisseurs' Guide
A little more forward in fruit and a little less layered and complex than its two single-site siblings, butby no means a simple wine, Dragonette’s Sta. Rita Hills appellation bottling is a rounded, very lightly tannic take on Pinot Noir with loads of up-front appeal. Not that it cannot age effortlessly for another three or four years, but neither is it a wine that is in any way withdrawn or hidden, and, of the three, it is the one we would reach for first when choosing something to enjoy now
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.