Winemaker Notes
The Riverview Vineyard has an unmistakable signature, an aromatic and textural thread that runs through all Metz Road wines. Their 2021 Pinot Noir is defined by its pure fruit and impeccable balance. The nose includes notes of cherries, currants and cranberries, followed by vanilla and hints of toasty oak. The medium-bodied palate offers a blush of bright red fruit with soft, integrated tannins and a lingering, sweet oak finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Winemaker Casey DiCesare's ongoing experiment to ferment grapes with true native yeast in the middle of a vineyard continues to impress. This vintage is the best yet, offering savory aromas of sage-crusted pork chop in a lemon peel-cranberry sauce on the nose. The palate is loaded with thyme and more chaparral spice that enliven the raspberry and cranberry flavors.
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Decanter
Generous aromas of liquorice and dark fruit, then to a palate of black cherry, strawberry and a touch of blackberry.
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James Suckling
Juicy, fruity and playful, with notes of cherries, crushed raspberries and strawberries. Medium-bodied with sleek tannins. Fine texture, with fruit dominating on the palate. Smooth finish.
Metz Road specializes in small-lot, native yeast-fermented, single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Riverview Vineyard. Set along an eastern benchland of the Salinas Valley, this cool-climate site owes its vinous personality to decomposed granite soils, morning fog and strong winds off Monterey Bay some 40 miles to the north. These unique conditions help distinguish the wines from their brethren in the Santa Lucia Highlands directly across the valley. Sustainable farming practices and innovative winemaking techniques including on-site fermentations with wild yeast, are utilized to preserve the intrinsic character and terroir of Riverview Vineyard.
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 geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.