Winemaker Notes
Supple Pinot Noir from Sonoma County’s uncontested cool-climate capital, the Russian River Valley. The Cusp fully embraces the tension between Russian River fog and Sonoma sunshine. A proudly new-world Pinot, with a full, round body; beautifully balanced and unexpectedly complex.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 El Pino Club, The Cusp Pinot Noir, is enticing and slightly elevated on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of slightly smoked meat, and bright red fruits. Pair it with grilled salmon fillets. (Tasted: March 24, 2022, Rutherford, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Delivers accents of cinnamon to the medium-weight raspberry pastry and boysenberry flavors, which glide across the palate. The toasty finish turns creamy, with hints of allspice and dried wild herbs. Drink now
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.