Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site located in the northern part of the Sonoma Coast, the sensational 2016 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard sports a medium ruby color as well as classic dried red fruits, forest floor, spice, and subtle marine/seaside notes. It’s medium-bodied, as elegant and classy as they come, and is going to evolve beautifully.
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James Suckling
Very attractive, complex, spice and sous bois-scented nose with bright red cherries and blueberries. There’s a very silky mid-palate that carries a smooth, fleshy and long array of layered red cherries and pastry-like sheets of tannins. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2016 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard is fabulous. Elegant and polished with stunning vertical structure, the 2016 shows why this site in Fort Ross-Seaview is so revered. Crushed flowers, mint and chalk weave through a core of nuanced Pinot fruit. The Hirsch is another wine that needed time to fully blossom. Perched at 1,200-1,400 feet in elevation, most of Hirsch sits just above the fog line, which contributes to its unique microclimate. Superb.
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.