Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Hirsch East Ridge Estate Pinot Noir is a selection of the very best barrels from the finest and most expressive blocks on the East Ridge. Years of intense biodynamic soil care and an end to California’s five-year drought have helped restore vigor and energy to the old, stressed vines on the East Ridge. In 2017, we see the results in a wine of greater fruit intensity than the last few years, complimented by the supple, masculine tannins that characterize the East Ridge Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This offers red cherries, sous bois and sappy, earthy freshness. The palate heads more towards blue fruit with a smooth band of fine pinot tannin and beautifully preserved acidity, holding a long, mouthwatering finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir East Ridge has a perfumed nose of fir, damp earth, black cherries, lavender, oolong tea leaves, dusty character and red berry sparks—savory and earthy. The palate is light to medium-bodied, with concentrated, dark, savory fruits framed by sturdy tannins and great freshness to lift the long, layered 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.