Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wonderful purity of fruit to this with ripe-strawberry, citrus and raspberry aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with very intense, powerful tannins that show strength and structure. Vibrant acidity. This needs time to soften. Blend of various vineyards on the site.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Pinot Noir San Andreas Fault is scented of cranberries, blackberries, forest floor and conifer, lemon peel and Angostura bitters. The light-bodied palate is delicate yet intense with a deep core of red fruit, a fine, powdery texture, seamless acidity and long finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a fresh, salty, crisp and focused wine from the beautiful coastal site. It is stone-like in texture and brimming in sea air. Rose, raspberry, black tea and clove rise to the fore of the deft, silky palate, finding cohesion and grace.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site that produces wines of more structure, even in low-tannin vintages, the 2019 Pinot Noir San Andreas Fault takes on more layered complexity, with a perfume of rosehip, wild raspberry, and cinnamon spice. Revealing notes of dried flowers, cranberry, and tea leaf, the palate offers pretty character and weightlessness, although it certainly has underlying structure that is not to be overlooked. For lovers of Burgundy. this is a killer wine to have in the mix.
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.