Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the standouts in this stacked lineup is the 2016 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard. This beauty comes from a single block of a mountain site located north of the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. Aged 17 months in 37% new French oak, this is a ripe, sexy, and powerful wine that’s loaded with notions of ripe strawberries, kirsch, shrimp stock, spice, and hints of ground coffee. With building tannin, full body, beautiful depth of fruit, and an incredible texture, this magical Pinot Noir will compete with any wine coming out of California today. Drink it over the coming decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard reveals a beautifully fruity nose of warm raspberries, preserved cherries and mulberries with hints of red roses, underbrush, wild blueberries and cast iron pan with a touch of truffles. Medium-bodied with a solid frame of very fine-grained tannins, the palate delivers vibrant red and blue fruit layers and a long, perfumed finish.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.