Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of rose petals, red cherries, plums and garden herbs. Full-bodied with fine, taught tannins. Juicy red and black fruit, paired with chicory root, allspice and nutmeg. Dark blue fruit. Well-formed intensity and depth. So structured and tannin-driven.
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Wine Enthusiast
A potpourri aroma leads to a soft, lushly layered core of baked fruit, with lifted acidity and broad tannins supporting this single-vineyard wine. White pepper and forest floor tones play along, showing the intensity often found from the site.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pinot Noir Meredith Estate has a medium ruby-purple color. It slowly unfolds to black fruits and notes of licorice, graphite, forest floor and prosciutto. The palate is bold and lushly fruited with dark, mineral-laced fruits, a firm, fresh frame and a still youthfully wound finish. Give it another 2-3 years in bottle.
Rating: 95+ -
Tasting Panel
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Pinot Noir Meredith Estate is rich with fresh fig, wood spice, root beer, and baked earth. The palate is rich with cherry fruit, savory dried herbs, and turned earth.
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Wine Spectator
Suave and well-structured, this offers plum pastry and cherry tart flavors that show plenty of forest floor notes, with firm tannins and acidity. Engaging floral accents linger into the finish, showing lithe spiciness and richness.
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.