Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Kirsch, dried flowers, dried soils, and spice box flow from the silky, pure, polished and elegant 2014 Pinot Noir Sandy’s, which saw 30% whole cluster during fermentation and 14 months in neutral barrels. I love its complexity, as well as its seamless, silky texture, and while it’s already hard to resist, it will evolve beautifully through 2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
This winery's bottlings manage to pack bright, fruity energy and a wide array of herbs and seasonings into the same lithe frame. In this case, sagebrush and chaparral meet candied red cherry and dark pomegranate on the nose. The palate shows lots of oregano, thyme and bay leaf against a ripe cranberry base, with touches of black tea and rosehip adding to the complexity. Editor's Choice
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.