Winemaker Notes
The wine has a medium ruby, garnet color. The nose has aromas of black cherries, green herbs and a hint of oak toast. On the palate the wine is medium bodied with flavors similar to that of the aromas. The wine has moderate silky tannins and excellent acidity that contributes to a long satisfying finish. This is avery harmonious wine where the components of flavor, acidity, oak and tannins are well balanced and integrated.
This Pinot Noir will pair well with a wide variety of foods, including lamb, duck and beef.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Broad aromas of red currant and boysenberry meet with wet slate, forest moss and damp herbs on the nose of this bottling from Rick Longoria's estate vineyard. There are tons of sagebrush, potpourri and dried rose petals on the sip, with floral and tea leaf flavors playing against the fresh red-fruit core.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The only 2015 presented, the 2015 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard shows the more firm, focused style of the vintage beautifully and gives up plenty of sweet red fruits, earth and spice aromas and flavors. It's nicely concentrated, has medium-bodied depth and richness, and still present tannin. Most 2015s are showing better today than they were a year ago, and I expect this to continue improving for another year or two than hold for 7-8 years.
Rating: 90+
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.