Winemaker Notes
An ode to the ancient seafloor in which our vineyards are planted and the cool Pacific breezes that help Pinot to thrive in the Sta. Rita Hills. You can taste those maritime roots in its concentrated fruit, balanced acidity, and fascinating minerality.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 El Pino Club dances on the palate with precision and beauty. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows up with bright aromas and flavors of red and black fruits. It streaks on the tongue with a beautiful bite of minerality and chalk. Pair its earthy notes with seared sea scallops and wild mushrooms in a savory, white wine reduction sauce. (Tasted: August 5, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Tasting Panel
Aged 15 months in French oak, this wine is named for its source’s proximity to the ocean and the soils that blanket ancient seabeds. Bright aromas of red rose petals, damp leaves, and cranberry cola precede notes of underbrush and dried blue flowers on the palate. The acidity is streamlined and the mouthfeel silky, with flavors of earth, slate, pomegranate, red tea, and cinnamon.
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Wine Enthusiast
Coiled aromas of raspberry and red cherry meet with a hint of loamy soil on the powerful nose of this bottling. There’s a touch of savory game at the beginning of the sip, then come flavors of black raspberry paste and cardamom. Drink now–2033.
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.