Winemaker Notes
Alluring notes of wild blackberry and sassafras. Mouth: Hints of red and dark fruit with a rustic edge of earthy minerality and black tea.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is made from a small site entirely dry-farmed within the Sebas-topol Hills. Fresh acidity pierces through spicy tea and clove seasoned around a light, bright and exotic core of orange peel, rhubarb and brambly blackberry and cherry. The finish is lengthy and indelibly memorable.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged 19 months in 29% new French oak, the medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Thorn Ridge Ranch is scented of mushroom, tree bark, white pepper and dried sage with a core of wild blackberries and Bing cherries plus nuances of gunflint, peppered meats and garrigue—very Syrah-esque. Medium-bodied, it offers intense, savory-laced fruits with a gentle, grainy frame and fantastic freshness, finishing long and nuanced. 275 cases were made.
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.