Winemaker Notes
This Cristina selection is a classic: blackberries, cassis and sandalwood in the nose, with a rich, seductive palate that is intense, savory, well balanced and with a great acid structure. The beautiful oak is nicely integrated with the fruit and firm tannins. It will continue to develop for at least another 15-20 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Pinot Noir Cristina Don Miguel Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple colored and offers up baked cherries, warm mulberries and raspberry pie scents with nuances of tobacco, wild thyme and tilled soil. Medium-bodied with bags of elegance and freshness, it has a chewy frame supporting the earthy fruit and finishes on a mineral note. 255 cases produced.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Starting out on a very positive note with a captivating nose of sweet cherries, raspberries and creamy oak and wholly consistent in taste with well-defined Pinot Noir fruit staying the course from front to back, this moderately full-bodied effort firms up after a quick feint at softness on entry with nicely joined acidity and a light touch of tannin providing it with the eminently ageworthy structure of a wine well worth cellaring for another few years.
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Wine Spectator
Lithe, with violet and floral notes to the raspberry, cherry and currant flavors. The snappy finish offers licorice and spice accents.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.