Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I believe a new vineyard, the 2012 Pinot Noir Giusti Vineyard, shares some similarities to the the Koplen Vineyard, with its intense, focused style. Showing plenty of plum, licorice, toasted spices (cinnamon) and hints of vanilla bean, this beauty flows onto the palate with no hard edges, beautiful mid-palate density and a focused, lengthy feel on the finish. Nothing is out of place here, and it's a rock-star bottle of wine...
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Wine Spectator
Firm, with a dense, expansive core of dark berry, mineral, dried herb, dried porcino mushroom and black tea flavors, ending with dry, gripping tannins and a pleasant push of fruit on the finish. Drink now through 2022.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.