Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely perfumed and floral with so much rose and blueberry and stone. Full body, yet agile and exciting. Salty. It will fill in with age if you give it the chance. What a wine. Try in 2021.
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Wine Spectator
Complex and defined by a mix of savory black tea, raspberry, sandalwood and light earth notes, gaining tannic strength and richness without losing focus or persistence. Drink now through 2023.
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.