Winemaker Notes
Pairs perfectly with grilled lamb chops, gourmet flatbread pizza, and pulled pork sandwiches.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Very ripe, black-fruited Pinot Noirs can be over-the-top at times. The richly flavored 2016 Mark West Black Label Pinot Noir shows a balance that many others fail to achieve. TASTING NOTES: This wine is rich, yet restrained and finely balanced. Its aromas and flavors of black, almost porty notes are kept nicely in check with sweet tannins and a sturdy structure. Pair this one with a rosemary-infused leg of lamb. (Tasted: May 15, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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 geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.