Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really fresh and clean with sliced dried strawberries, flowers and citrus. Medium-bodied, very poised and refined with a long, crisp finish. California brightness with French sensitivity. Drink or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The excellent 2018 Martin Ray Vineyards & Winery Pinot Noir is beautiful and affordable. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits attractive, up-front aromas and flavors of red and blue fruits as well as an accent of earth and oak. Pair with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: May 18, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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.