Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The appellation 2014 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley from this team is a smoking effort. Mostly destemmed and brought up in 44% new French oak, it's loaded with notions of black raspberries, toasted spice, licorice and underbrush. These give way to a full-bodied, concentrated, textured Pinot Noir that packs plenty of fruit, while never losing the elegance and purity of the variety. It will evolve every bit as well as most of the single vineyard releases.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Very much showing the extra richness and fruity weight that its provenance typically predicts, this generously filled, full-bodied Pinot smacks of vanilla and sweet toast at one moment and at wildflowers the next with a strong and steady presence of juicy, impressively concentrated, ripe cherry fruit tying all of its complex parts together. It is plush and slightly velvety on entry with late arriving tannins lending backbone and grip, and its dalliances with a bit of finishing heat do nothing to diminish its ongoing, decidedly hedonistic pleasures.
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Wine Spectator
Smooth and inviting, offering charming flavors of wild berry, blueberry, spice and cedar. Supple in texture, long and lingering on the finish.
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.