Winemaker Notes
The wine opens with aromas of raspberry, black tea, and a subtle hint of cola, while the palate offers firm structure and vibrant acidity with flavors of Bing cherry and Santa Rosa plum, finishing with soft muddled cherry notes and lingering, textured tannins that leave the taste buds wanting more.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Rice-Spivak Vineyard was fermented with 25% whole clusters and matured for 20 months in 50% new French oak. It has compelling aromas of wild berry fruit, aniseed, lavender, tea leaves and earth, and it continues to reveal additional nuances with every return to the glass. The medium-bodied palate’s flavors are concentrated, nuanced and complex. It’s framed by silky tannins and vibrant acidity and has a long, perfumed finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Pinot Noir Rice-Spivak Vineyard is bright and very tightly wound. It's a particularly linear, nervy wine, perhaps because of the 50% stems in the blend. Red berry fruit, white pepper, chalk and orange peel emerge with some coaxing. The 2022 is not at all forthcoming today. Give it time.
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.