Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Here, again, is a deep and exceptionally well-defined Pinot that deserves a place near the head of the class, and, if counting very keen fruit and lovely oak adjuncts as important assets, it earns equally high praise for its agility and outstanding balance. It builds in intensity as it crosses the palate and hangs on and on at the finish, but its firmness tags it as a wine that clearly wants cellar time, and it may be the one of its clan that is most in need of age.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the more feminine, elegant and pretty Pinot Noirs in the lineup, the 2013 Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard exhibits a lot of spring flowers and sappy underbrush notes, as well as ample underlying darker berry fruit. Lively, fresh and taut on the palate, yet still with depth of fruit and texture, it’s beautiful now but should evolve gracefully.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and vibrant, with an edge of savory herb and fresh earth to the snappy wild berry, raspberry and licorice notes. Needs time. Drink now through 2020.
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.