Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Migration Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir starts and ends well. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings black fruit, a hint of licorice, oak onto the palate. Enjoy it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye. (Tasted: March 29, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
The appellation 2018 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast was brought up all in French oak, with 40% being new. It's a larger production effort yet delivers impressive quality, with plenty of pretty red and black berry fruit as well as subtle floral nuances. Nicely textured, medium-bodied, with good acidity, and a clean finish, this rock-solid effort has lots of Sonoma Coast character. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years. It's a step up over the 2017 and a good value.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine combines grapes from Dutton Ranch and Running Creek Vineyard, among others, blending them together into a cohesive expression of coastal intensity. Dried herb, black tea and forest floor notes give it a savory edginess matched by dark berry and baking spice.
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.