Winemaker Notes
Drink with wild salmon topped with herbed butter. Grill, bake or even lightly smoke.
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very textured and layered, with good tannins supporting nervy red cherry, cranberry, red tea and rhubarb flavors on a medium body. Grown on sandy soil and showing the elegant restraint that this gives the wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a northern section of Melville East planted on sand and fermented with 50% whole clusters, the 2022 Pinot Noir Sandy's Block is the most approachable Pinot Noir of the roster. The nose is red-fruited and multifaceted, merging incense, spice and dried flower notes with lifted herbal energy. The palate is lacy and focused, braced with a gently succulent acidity.
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.