Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A wine that flirts with perfection is the 2015 Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine. From a site off Occidental Road, closer to 116, and aged in roughly 25% new French oak (there was also a touch of stems used), it offers a heavenly bouquet of perfectly ripe black raspberry fruit, loads of spring flowers, spice, and crushed violets, medium to full body, ultra-fine tannin, and remarkable elegance and purity. Incredibly complete, with sensational aromatics that are backed up a fresh yet also layered, rich, and multi-dimensional mouthfeel, it's a monumental Pinot Noir that will benefit from short-term cellaring.
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.