Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Pinot Noir is just so aromatically complete and layered. There’s a luscious concentration of red berries and cherries in the middle, with wafts of purple flowers and fresh herbs in the high layers. Deep tones come from layers of leather, spiced and sphagnum moss. It hits the palate with a glossy wash of dark red fruits, then brightens up into a raspberry and rhubarb before streaks of iron and star anise invigorate the finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard is another Burgundian-styled beauty that has a touch of reduction in its violets, crushed stone, black cherry, and raspberry aromas and flavors. As with all of Adam's wines, it's beautiful on the palate and has a seamless, elegant texture, light tannins, good acidity, and the balance to keep for 10-12 years or more.
Rating: 94+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple, the 2018 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega is scented of wild blackberries, tar, licorice and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied and earthy with a firm, fresh frame and long finish.
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 superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.