Winemaker Notes
A compilation of ripe, red and blue fruit ignites the senses with slight undertones of forest rain. Soft and smooth on the palate with pure electric dark berry flavors and deep, unified tannins add volume to a refined finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Pinot Noir is sourced from several sites across the Anderson Valley, including KB's estate Cerise Vineyard. It opens with a reductive nose of floral rose and sage, showing rustic tannins that evolve to reveal an elegant, tightly wound structure of finesse and fruity intensity.
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James Suckling
Aromas of umami, seaweed, mushroom and bark follow through to a medium body, with firm and fine velvety tannins and a flavorful finish with a salty undertone at the end. Oyster shell. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast was matured in 39% new oak for 15 months. The nose opens slowly from allspice and brown sugar to a core of red cherry and cranberry, tea leaves and lavender. The medium-bodied palate offers surprisingly concentrated fruit supported by grainy tannins and seamless freshness, and it has a long, spicy finish.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.