Winemaker Notes
This crowd-pleaser Pinot will be happy accompanying fish to fowl, along with savory side dishes that include mushrooms or earthy roasted root vegetables. An aged Gouda makes the perfect cheese match.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This silky, fruity and refined wine shows great balance between generous red cherry, raspberry and dark plum flavors, and refreshing acidity and moderate tannins. It’s poised to drink soon but OK to allow it to mature further.
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Wine Spectator
A textbook Russian River Valley Pinot, with a burst of pomegranate and black cherry fruit laced with blood orange, singed mesquite and savory tinges that ripple through the fresh finish. Drink now through 2030. 3,020 cases made.
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.