Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A supple, graceful style that builds depth and intensity, with ripe, plump black cherry, plum and blueberry notes. Full-bodied, gaining depth and nuance while remaining elegant and delicate. A classically styled young Pinot that's also a tour de force.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Pinot Noir 4 Barrel is initially rather intense and powerful, but then turns decidedly more elegant with time in the glass. Dark cherries, plums, licorice, mint and spices are woven together nicely in this plush, inviting wine. Floral and spiced notes reappear on the finish, adding quite a bit of lift. In 2009 winemaker Shane Finley used lots from Gap’s Crown, Koplen, Pisoni and Kanzler for the 4 Barrel, with approximately 25% whole clusters.
Internationally recognized for gorgeous, pure fruit combined with great elegance, California Pinot noir thrives among the state’s cooler, coastal zones. Characterized by eclectic flavors and aromas of strawberry, black cherry, plum and potpourri with notes of forest floor, mushroom or black tea, the best California Pinot noir boast a supple texture and good acidity, giving them the ability to improve with age.
Credited with the beginning of Pinot noir’s glory in California, two growers, Joe Rochioli and Joseph Swan in the late 1960s independently planted Pinot noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Today Sonoma County remains the leading producer of Pinot noir in the state, and Pinot noir is the leading red grape in the county, achieving its highest potential, in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
Other coastal appellations where Pinot noir flourishes include Carneros, Anderson Valley and most of the Central Coast.