Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Ever since I visited the Chalone AVA in the mid-1980s, I have always kept a fondness for the vineyards and the area. The 2016 Hobo Wine Company - Folk Machine Antle Vineyard was a recent treat I enjoyed at a three-hour trade tasting. TASTING NOTES: This wine is pert, lively, and energetic on the palate. Its aromas and flavors of tart strawberries and raspberries should make a beautiful pairing partner with a lightly grilled salmon steak. (Tasted: September 25, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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.”
Located in the Gabilan Mountains east of the fertile Salinas Valley, Chalone is named for the nearby Chalone peaks and produces fine Chardonnay and Pinot noir, among others.