Winemaker Notes
Leyda Pinot Noir’s aromatic profile is a pure and honest reflection of the variety, displaying acidic red fruit aromas such as raspberry and cherry, along with herbal notes typical of the Leyda Valley. In the mouth, it is very fresh and juicy with vibrant acidity and sweet, round tannins.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Another fragrant Chilean pinot noir, but with plenty of structure and rooty notes, as well as great sour cherries. This is just coming to its best, but has the tension and vitality to age further. Long, complex finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
It seems like the warm conditions of the vintage have marked the 2017 Lot 21 Pinot Noir, and the wine feels a little riper and with less nuance and brightness. It's still a fresh and varietal example with nicely integrated oak that would surprise if it wasn't for the presence of its siblings from cooler years. 5,000 bottles were filled in May 2018.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
An officially recognized sub-zone in the southern part of the San Antonio Valley, the Leyda Valley was the original settlement of the wine pioneers who came to the area in the 1990s. They were in search of cooler and wetter growing conditions—as compared to more eastern, drier and often warmer locations.
Planting, which began only in the late 1990s, focused on Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot noir and some limited spots for Syrah. The area continues to receive well-earned accolades for wines of these varieties.