Winemaker Notes
Aromas of strawberries, raspberries and lemons. Full to medium body with bright acidity and a linear, vivid finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the Sonoma Coast, the 2016 Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch offers a classic, perfumed, red (sometimes blue) fruit driven perfume that I often associate with this cooler region. Wild strawberries, pomegranates, forest floor, and hints of leafy herbs all emerge from this medium-bodied, incredibly elegant and seamless Pinot Noir. I love its purity of fruit. It offers intensity with no weight and a great, great finish. It’s a brilliant wine.
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James Suckling
Aromas of strawberries, raspberries and lemons follow through to a full to medium body. Bright acidity and a linear, vivid finish. This is very cool and clean for Russian River, reflecting a unique terroir. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged 16 months in 46% new French oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch is pale to medium ruby with scents of violet, lilac, pink peppercorn, crushed raspberries and red cherry preserves with blood orange peel, forest floor and bitters. The palate is medium-bodied, über silky and explodes with spicy red berry flavors, wrapped in a softly grainy frame and with seamless freshness on the long, spicy finish. 2,900 cases produced.
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Wine Spectator
Full, rich and layered, with a firm and fleshy core of well-centered wild berry and raspberry flavors, intense and focused, ending with a long, persistent aftertaste. Best from 2019 through 2024.
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.