Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Head High is the second label for Three Sticks, whose 2017 Price Family Estates Pinot from the Sonoma Coast won a Best in Show at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards. If your pockets don't stretch that far, this is a delicious wine for half the price, sourced from top Sonoma County parcels including Durell, Wildcat and Sangiacomo Family Vineyards. Perfumed violets, lifted summer pudding aromas and flavours and bright acidity make this a really quaffable style, supported by gentle wood smoke notes from 10 months in French oak barrels, 25% new.
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Tasting Panel
From grower Bill Price of Three Sticks fame, this bright and cheery red is made with grapes from such well-known vineyards as Durell and Gap’s Crown. Aromas of cherry wood and leafy, earthy notes intrigue on the nose and palate, the latter of which is lined with black-tea tannins and spiced cedar. A thread of leather shows power and grace.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Some of the best Pinot Noirs in the world are understated. The 2018 High Head is beautifully balanced. TASTING NOTES: This wine starts with bold, ripe fruit before settling into a smooth and stylish wine. Pair it with brined pork chops accent with a white wine reduction sauce. (Tasted: July 12, 2019, 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.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.