Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Jackson Estate Outland Ridge aged nine months in 42% new French oak. Youthfully shy, it slowly opens to Earl Grey tea leaves, crushed cranberries, warm raspberries, blackberries, earth and sweet spices. Medium-bodied and silky, it offers intense, perfumed fruits with a firmer frame of grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long and layered. 864 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a rich, complex and attractively layered wine that opens with baking spice and black cherry aromas. The palate brings mouthfilling and concentrated black-fruit flavors with lingering dried fruit and cinnamon characteristics. It's a big but well-mannered wine that will cap any occasion with style.
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Wine Spectator
Intense notes of hot stone and slate accent the dried cherry and berry flavors. Floral hints show midpalate, with a powerful finish that is rich and mineral-infused. Drink now through 2024.
Anderson Valley, located in Mendocino County just above Sonoma County, is one of California’s coolest AVAs, allowing it a long growing season. Only 15 miles long, the region makes a slice eastward through the mountains, from the frigid Pacific Ocean. Dramatic diurnal temperature variations here preserve grape acidity and thus freshness in the finished wines. These are prime conditions for growing Pinot Noir, and the valley produces many fine versions. Characteristics of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir typically include crisp acidity, cranberry and strawberry notes as well as earthy notes of forest floor and mushroom.
Still Pinot Noir, however, is only part of the story. Pinot Noir, along with Chardonnay, are also grown for Anderson Valley’s exceptional sparkling wines. Produced via the traditional method, these offer a classic toasty note from lees aging, bright, complex fruit notes and a clean, refreshing character.