Winemaker Notes
A very pretty and polished light ruby color which fades to a clear rim. The nose is delicate and perfumed with notes of baking spices on top of cranberry, strawberry and red apple skin. On the palate, the non-fruit flavors dominate with cinnamon, nutmeg and Chinese 5 spice. Overall, the wine is layered and more reminiscent of Pinot from the Côte de Nuits than Russian River Valley. Delicate and contemplative up front, but with power that comes through on the finish that begs for robust fall and winter dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Enticing aromas of oak spices, toast, grilled plums, redwood forest and baked cherries draw your interest quickly before enjoying the wine’s rich, complex red cherry, black tea and cedar flavors. Nicely gripping tannins and great acidity give it excellent balance for further aging.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 La Follette Heintz Vineyard Pinot Noir is bright, persistent, and long in the finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of tart strawberries, chalky notes, and savory spices. Serve it with a fragrant lamb stew. (Tasted: June 15, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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.