Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another wine that was just bottled, the 2013 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard was open knit, ready to go, and even a little evolved on this occasion. Showing lots of savory herbs, dusty earth, spice and darker currant and blackberry-like fruit, it's medium-bodied, nicely textured and structured on the palate, with plenty of mid-palate depth. Given its recent bottling, I suspect it will be better this time next year and have 4-5 years of prime drinking. It was completely destemmed and aged 16 months in 50% new French oak.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fairly tight in aromas with cranberry, tart cherries and gravel, this shows fresher squeezed bramble berries the longer it's opened. The palate is also tart with cranberries and anise, though streamlined with tones of gravel, slate and dark chocolate.
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.