Winemaker Notes
This wine, a unique blend from a selection of vineyards along the cool Sonoma Coast, combines Dijon, Calera, and Pommard clones of Pinot Noir, creating something quite special. Only 25% of the wine has been aged in new oak, so it is all about the California coastline's fruit and maritime terroir. The color shows some saturation and intensity, but the aroma is elegant and inviting. Aromas of red fruits abound - with notes of cedar, damp earth, red currants, and blackberries. This Pinot Noir delivers more complexity on the palate than expected with a combination of juicy fruits and other more understated flavors. The wine possesses the typical regional acidity, perfectly framing the abundance of red fruit flavors and ensuring a very balanced and harmonious mid- palate experience, a testament to its quality.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast has a youthful ruby color and is bright with aromas of pomegranate, preserved cranberries, pine, forest herbs, and fresh flowers. The palate is tension-packed and medium-bodied, with a compact core and coiled tannins, refreshing, ripe acidity, and a terrific chalky finish. This wine is a fantastic entry to the 2023 vintage, and I’m excited to see the rest of the 2023s from Ernest, but I would snap this one up while we wait.
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James Suckling
It's a laser-focused, acid-driven wine, brilliant in crunchy, fresh, red and black fruits on a rather light body. Black cherries, dried cherries and sour cherries, with hints of chalk and minerals. Light tannins and vivid acidity give a mouthwatering texture.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) is terrific. Rich and generous in the glass, with tons of savory nuance, the 2023 is a wonderfully complete wine. Cedar, dried herbs, new leather, tobacco and incense wrap around the palate. A healthy dose of stems (33%) adds complexity, but it’s the wine's balance.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.