Winemaker Notes
#1 Wine Spectator Top 10 Wine Values of 2023
Aromas of blackberry, cherry, leather, and tobacco with flavors of red cherry, raspberry, and boysenberry. Subtle hints of espresso and cocoa nib underpin notes of exotic spice and toast. The fine tannins are balanced acidity drive a long finish.Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is floral and juicy, with ripe cherry, candied flowers, and sweet herbs. Medium-bodied and attractive on the palate, with more ripe mixed berries, fine tannins, and a supple, soft texture, this is a clean and very charming wine to drink over the next few years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Both very well balanced and flavorful, this medium-bodied wine suggests red and black cherries backed by medium tannins for a good, appetizing grip in the texture. It’s a versatile wine for food pairings, and best through 2028.
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Wine Spectator
Offers a friendly mix of loganberry and damson plum allied to a bright, racy frame, with a nice piercing savory thread running through the 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.