Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Heather, brush, cedar and blackberry bramble are some of the amazing aromatics that precede a palate of wild flowers and eucalyptus. Spiced with clove, black pepper and dried cranberries, visions of autumn leaves, tobacco and baking spices emerge alongside a decent tannic structure.
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Wine Spectator
Decant this to release it from its initial reduction and you’ll find a brisk, transparent Santa Rita Hills pinot noir that presents the region’s dark, small-berried fruit concentration without sweetness or noticeable alcohol. There’s a refreshing greenness to the aroma, like juniper and jasmine tea, which combines with bright flavors of black raspberries, plum skin and salt—it’s a vivacious coastal tonic to serve with pan-roasted halibut and sea beans. Best Buy.
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Wine Enthusiast
There's a very savory, gamy element on the nose of this wine, which shows wild berries, woody shrubs, rusty iron and turned forest-floor aromas. The palate is punchy at first, with decent acidity and cranberry-plum-raspberry flavors, then clings to a pencil-lead core deeper into the sip. It offers quite a bit of complexity.
Exhibiting the casual graciousness of Santa Barbara County, Lincourt Vineyards was named after Bill and Carol Foley’s two daughters – Lindsay and Courtney and marked the beginning of the Foley Family of wines. Founded in 1996, Lincourt produces boutique, ultra-premium estate wines from the acclaimed Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Handcrafted, small-lot bottling showcases the character of each vineyard site and bear the names of the women who influenced and shaped Bill’s life including his wife, mother, grandmother and aunt. The quaint 1926 Sears Craftsman Kit home serves as Lincourt’s charming tasting room and hospitality space.
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.