Migration Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2016
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James
Suckling -
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Spectator -
Wilfred
Wong -
Connoisseurs'
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This complex cool-climate Pinot Noir displays lovely texture and tension. On the nose, layers of blackberry, raspberry, moist earth and fresh-cut grass evolve and expand over time. The robust dark berry flavors continue on the palate, where they are underscored by a firm, sophisticated structure that adds nuance and grip.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Impressive clarity and purity of red and blue-fruit aromas, as well as subtly earthy complexity. The palate has a beautifully silky core of ripe red and black cherries. Velvety tannins. Really even and long. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Well-structured, showing vibrant dried cherry, red plum and currant flavors that are backed by zesty acidity. The minerally finish is fresh and focused, with a savory edge. Drink now through 2022.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: My love for Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs continues to grow, and while there is always a question of whether a wine is from the "true Sonoma Coast" or not, this AVA is delivering some of California's finest Pinot Noirs. The 2016 Migration Sonoma Coast is an excellent example of the wines my palate favors. TASTING NOTES: This wine is beautifully appointed. Its aromas and flavors of bright cranberries and strawberries should pair well with pan-seared wild king salmon. (Tasted: September 10, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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Connoisseurs' Guide
By Duckhorn. Optimally ripened and emphatically fruity with an integral complement of vanillin oak augmenting its moderately intense cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors, this substantial, full-bodied working is little concerned with delicacy and detail and, is instead, a wine that is about straight-ahead richness. It is nominally tannic and may find a more elegant footing with age, but, even if not, it earns an enthusiastic, thumbs-up vote for its fruity abundance and depth.
Other Vintages
2021-
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong
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Wilfred
Wong
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Wilfred
Wong -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator
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Wilfred
Wong -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast
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James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
Since our inaugural 2001 vintage of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, Migration has developed a refined and compelling style that balances vibrancy and finesse. In the years since, Migration has taken wing beyond our Anderson Valley origins as we have explored Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from California’s finest cool-climate appellations, most notably the legendary Sonoma Coast. Today, Migration works with a handful of acclaimed growers to produce a small portfolio of sought-after Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, including our flagship Sonoma Coast wines, and our coveted vineyard-designates. These sophisticated, Burgundian-varietal wines highlight lush fruit, bright acidity and balanced oak influence.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.