Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Not yet bottled, the 2018 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard is cut from the same mold, with rocking levels of wild strawberry and mulberry fruits, medium to full body, loads of spice and floral nuances, and silky tannins. This quintessential, elegant, yet powerful Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is going to drink nicely for 10-12 years.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced from 100% Calera Clone, the 2018 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard was aged for 15 months in French oak, 80% new. Medium ruby-purple in color, it leaps from the glass with perfumed black cherries, red currant jelly and black raspberries notes plus suggestions of lilacs, tilled soil and underbrush. Medium-bodied, very elegant and with fantastic tension, the palate delivers bags of intense red and black berry layers, finishing on a lingering, fragrant earth note.
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.