Winemaker Notes
Aromas of pomegranate and sweet tobacco are followed by flavors of berry fruit and plums with subtle hints of exotic spice and toast. On the palate, the wine has balanced acidity and fine tannins that drive a long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast comes from fruit across the appellation including Russian River and Carneros. It aged nine months in 25% new oak. Pale to medium ruby, it has a bright, inviting nose of cranberries, woodsmoke, cola, bergamot and crushed black cherries with accents of earth, sweet spice, citrus peel and flowers. It's light to medium-bodied, silky and bursting with ripe fruits, enlivened by juicy acidity and finishing long and lifted. This is a great value! 253,000 cases produced.
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Wine Spectator
Lively floral components accent the finely textured flavors of red currant and dried red cherry, matched to firm acidity. Lithe and minerally on the finish. Drink now through 2024
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.