Winemaker Notes
Maverick opens with bright aromas of raspberry, cranberry, and hibiscus. Silky smooth and juicy on the palate, the wine offers a lingering finish of red fruit and subtle cherry cola hints. The 2016 Maverick is vibrant and expressive with elegant flavors and crisp acidity.
Edna Valley, located a mere five miles from the Pacific Ocean, has the longest growing season in California. The region boasts both oceanic and volcanic soils as well as cool temperatures caused by near constant maritime conditions of fog and wine. Ideal for Pinot Noir, the area is known for elegant wines that are quite Burgundian in style.
Blend: 97% Pinot Noir, 3% Petite Sirah
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Delivering for the $$$s, the 2016 Four Vines Maverick Pinot Noir shows up with loads of delectable fruit. TASTING NOTES: This wine serves up ripe fruit that lasts nicely into its finish. Its aromas and flavors of black fruits and oak accents should pair it well with grilled pork chops. (Tasted: November 17, 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.”
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.