Winemaker Notes
The grapes were fermented with 5% whole cluster adding additional texture and complexity. And we used open-top fermentors, native yeasts, and punched down bins twice a day to extract the full flavor of these grapes. The Pinot Noir was then pressed off its skins after two weeks of fermentation and at ideal tannin texture and barreled down to age. We used French oak with about 50% of those barrels being new. After tasting through all the barrels we came to a blend of 55% Catapult Vineyard with nice fruit and structure components and 45% Diamond Pile Vineyard to add elegance and freshness.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Scents of sassafras, cinnamon, and cedar are breathtaking. This well-balanced, velvet-lined Pinot Noir generates earthy notes that evolve as the palate opens up to a patch of wild strawberries and a field of sweet tobacco. Cherry preserves lift while cherry-skin tannins dry on the finish.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.