Winemaker Notes
Enjoy notes of Crème brûlée, blackberry, red currant and blackened spice on the nose. As this wine opens up in your glass, you’ll also notice the aromas of toasted French oak and Cohiba cigars. This exceptionally balanced wine integrates these aromas and delights the palate with a juicy, ready to drink Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir. It will also age gracefully for 4-6 years! Enjoy with dark turkey meat, pork loin in cherry reduction sauce or double chocolate cupcakes.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Cooked cherry meets with nutmeg, allspice, white pepper and a strong sandalwood scent on the nose of this red from the south side of the appellation. The woody cedar-driven spice notes show strong on the sip, giving depth to the mulberry and rainbow-peppercorn flavors.
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.