Winemaker Notes
Aromatically this wine has a dynamically ripe red raspberry note, with orange zest, and touches of rhubarb. On the palate, the wine is deliciously savory with fine black tea, dried eucalyptus and lingering flavors of bing cherries. Overall the wine has softened tannins, delightfully cool climate influenced acidity and a lengthy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2024 Pinot Noir Estate is gorgeous already, beaming from the glass with a darkly floral, savory bouquet of warming spice, dried flowers and nuanced marine-inflected accents. The palate is equal parts silky, rich, refined and dense, seamlessly flowing into a lifted, pretty and oceanic finish that lingers with retronasal perfume and deliciously juicy undertones.
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.