Winemaker Notes
Aromas of black tea, salted toffee, forest floor, and wild sage are balanced with red, crunchy fruit notes of red currant, raspberries and wild mountain strawberries. Cold-climate acidity offers a bright and fresh palate, along with medium-bodied tannins. Afford this wine a couple years in the cellar for optimum drinking.
Pair with miso-marinated salmon.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Deep, plummy flavors and a rather full body add up to a powerful, mouth-filling wine. Dark cherries, pomegranates, black pepper and cassis on the palate.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most alluring and complex Pinot Noir in the range, the 2022 Pinot Noir Terraces emerges from a trio of windswept blocks at Melville West, fermented with 60% whole clusters. The nose combines qualities found in other Pinot Noirs of the lineup, combining dark fruits, exotic spices, dried flowers and herbal energy with an enhanced degree of burly, sturdy power. The palate is silky and saturated yet retains a beautiful vibrancy, finishing with a coiled, tannic finish.
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.