Winemaker Notes
The 2019 growing season was exceptional for Mt. Carmel - the vineyard achieved ideal ripeness, and the year was very windy, which produced an extremely structured wine. With expressive and complex fruit, earthy aromatics, and profound bramble notes, it is positively vibrant. The harmonious palate highlights the grand energy and depth, embodying the character of Sta. Rita Hills. This wine is unapologetically delicious.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel Vineyard is appealingly rustic, featuring scents of dried red cherries and cranberries, resinous herbs, charcuterie and iron. The medium-bodied palate is chalky and fresh with earthy, spicy fruits and a long, nuanced finish.
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Wine & Spirits
From a windswept ridge on the northern end of the Sta. Rita hills, this is not a shy wine. It’s driven by brisk red fruits—raspberry and red cherry—and by a weighty rasher of oak. There’s no denying its power and layering, or the full range of its flavors, but it needs years to integrate.
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.