Winemaker Notes
This wine opens up with aromas of fresh strawberry, rustic raspberry, leather, and layered spices of clove and cardamom. The palate opens with bright red fruits of Bing cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate. Subtle earth notes intertwine with juicy acidity complemented by beautiful structure and a velvety smooth finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast comes from the Thorn Ridge (62%) and Rice-Spivak (38%) vineyards, and fruit was harvested both before and after the Labor Day heat wave. It has open-knit aromas of cranberry and briar fruit, woodsmoke, tea leaves and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is layered and nuanced. It’s structured by dusty tannins and juicy acidity and has a long, spicy finish. It unfurls dramatically with air and will benefit from some time in a decanter.
-
Vinous
The 2022 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) is supple, open-knit and wonderfully inviting. Succulent red/purplish berries, sweet spice and lifted floral notes all shape this attractive, mid-weight Pinot from Katy Wilson.
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.