Winemaker Notes
The Platt Vineyard is located in the Sonoma Coast AVA and sits at about 750 feet of elevation overlooking the town of Bodega. The vines are farmed organically and grown on Gold Ridge loam over marine sandstone. After harvest, the grapes see roughly 30% whole cluster fermentation in a combination of both stainless steel and wood. The wine is then aged in about 20-25% new French oak for about 14-17 months.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site next to Occidental Vineyard, the deep ruby-colored 2016 Pinot Noir Platt Vineyard is incredibly floral, with vibrant red and blue fruits, medium body, vibrant acidity and a great finish. It’s a vibrant, punchy Pinot Noir that will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for a decade or more.
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James Suckling
This has attractive, sweetly spiced red to black cherries on the nose with a very supple and succulent, direct, juicy and attractive palate.
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.