Winemaker Notes
If California’s vineyard sources were classified similar to the French AOC system, several of the blocks at the Hirsch Vineyard would be categorized as Grand Cru.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2017 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard, the gem in the lineup. Ethereal notes of wild strawberries, kirsch, white flowers, and spice all flow to a medium-bodied, elegant, seamless effort that carries terrific intensity and depth yet stays weightless and vibrant. This is California Pinot Noir at its most perfumed, complex, and elegant.
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Wine Spectator
Bright and tensile, with underbrush accents to the dried cherry, roasted plum and berry flavors. Crushed stone and flinty notes emerge on the firmly tannic finish.
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.