Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale ruby-purple, pure the 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict has detailed, layered aromas of blackberry, raspberry and blood orange with accents of lilac, tea leaves and wood smoke. The palate is fresh and chalky with delicate but intense flavors and a very long, perfumed finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard offers a more masculine vibe in its ripe black cherry and currant fruit as well as peppery herbs, candied violets, and orange blossom aromas and flavors. It's another medium-bodied, silky, impressive 2019 with terrific purity, sound structure, and a great finish.
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.