Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Nuance may not be this riveting Pinot’s strength but deep and wonderfully generous fruit is, and there is no end to the wine’s tireless sense of richness at any point. It is full and fleshy with show-stopping concentration and depth, and, although about as big as good Pinot Noir wants to be, it is balanced and uncannily well-structured giving lie to the notion that big cannot be beautiful. Its lavish, decidedly opulent style will prove to be too much of a good thing with lighter foods, but it will make a most memorable foil to savory lamb shanks or a classic Boeuf Bourguignon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A classic representation of this first rate site, the 2013 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard offers a pretty, perfumed style in its black raspberry, rose petal, violets and floral bouquet. Tight, reserved and slightly backwards, it has beautiful purity of fruit and ample tannin, which is a defining character in the vintage. It's another effort from this team that needs short term cellaring.
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Wine Spectator
This generous red offers ripe plum, raspberry and wild berry flavors, with hints of crushed rock, wilted rose, fresh-cut herbs and a measure of creamy, vanilla-tinged oak. The tannins are well-integrated. Drink now through 2021. 549 cases made.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.