Winemaker Notes
The 2023 vintage of Coopersmith Pinot Noir greets us with notes of raspberry sorbet, chocolate-covered cherry, dark cocoa, and blueberry. This wine builds on entry and continues to broaden on the palate, offering up sweet fruit and a creamy texture. The focused finish features an espresso edge with a dusting of cocoa.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lovely and focused, with pure fruit aromas of wild berries, fresh raspberries, blossoms and brambleberries. Bright and very fresh on the medium-bodied palate, with lush and inviting tannins and juicy, mouthwatering acidity. The finish is very clean, with slight chalk and slate notes at the end. Drink or hold.
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Tasting Panel
This six-acre vineyard sits on the winery’s home ranch, and this vintage was lengthened due to the season’s cooler temperatures. Its sultry mouthfeel is filled with smashed cinnamon cherries and spiced raspberries, lined with cocoa nibs. An earthy core exudes white pepper and oregano, with an exotic finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of candied raspberry, dusty cherry, caramel, and roses swirl on the nose of this Pinot. The palate delivers a balance of rich, grippy tannin and juicy acidity, with flavors of black plum, cola spice, cedar, and purple flowers through the finish.
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Wine Spectator
A textbook version of the AVA, with ripe, punchy, forthright flavors of black cherry, boysenberry and pomegranate compote forming the bulk of the core, while black tea and roasted apple wood notes frame everything. A violet detail infuses the finish, giving floral lift to the otherwise toast-leaning profile.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured for eight months in 35% new French oak, the 2023 Pinot Noir Coopersmith takes some air to reveal scents of dried plums, pomegranate, forest floor, hoisin and glossy oak spice. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and nuanced with velvety tannins, mouthwatering acidity and a long, fragrant finish.
Merry Edwards Winery was founded in 1997 and produces critically acclaimed terroir-driven Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blanc using site-specific viticulture in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. Over two decades, Merry assembled a stellar collection of vineyards and with her meticulous attention to detail crafted Pinot Noirs of immense depth, elegant structure and exceptional longevity. Her Sauvignon Blanc is among the most sought after in the world.
Now a Certified California Sustainable Winery, the brand entered a new chapter after Merry’s retirement. Merry’s handpicked successor, Winemaker Heidi von der Mehden, and Winery President Nicole Carter have taken up exactly where Merry left off and will continue to make wines treasured by legions of Merry Edwards’ fans well into the future.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.