Winemaker Notes
Roasted and savory spices, tobacco leaf, smoked meats, and scents of forest floor lend dark counterpointto the bright fruit aromas of pomegranate, blackberry and orange-peel. Rich ripe fruit flavor givesbalance to the copious mouth-filling tannins. With time resting in the decanter, the delineation betweenthe fruit and the structure of this wine evaporates into a seamless and finely woven fabric of flavor andtexture. The impressive fruit concentration and firm structural backbone ensure a life-span that will bemeasured in decades.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Pinot Noir Savory woodland mushroom scents lend a sense of mystery to this wine, its flavors ranging from meat to minerals. There's nothing directly fruity about it. Dark in tone but not dense, the aroma has the exoticism of Chinese medicinal herbs. An old-school California pinot with an Old World sensibility, this should age in fascinating directions.
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Wine Enthusiast
Shows the dry tannins and astringency of youthfull Hanzell, but these Pinot Noirs are famously capable of extended aging. Tastes almost rustic now, with a deep core of cherries and cola. the oak is unintegrated, further accentuating the wine's immaturity. Needs time. Better after 2013, and should develop for an additional decade.
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.”
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.