Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
This remarkably well-concentrated wine is endowed with black cherry fruit as its primary focus and adds in caramel and crème brûlée richness alongside hints of toffee and dried spices. It is full but not heavy on the palate and already exhibits the wonderfully lush texture of fine Pinot Noir. Deep and flavorful, open and quite accessible, structured for aging and able to be enjoyed today, this is a wine to be remembered.
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Wine Spectator
Firm, tight, elegant and understated, this offers fresh, vibrant flavors of black cherry, wild berry and raspberry.
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.