Winemaker Notes
Brilliant deep red/garnet color. Nose shows fresh cherries, strawberry, baking spices, toasted oak and hints of bacon fat. The palate gives up dark red fruit flavors, earthy mushrooms and loads of spices finishing with warm notes of vanilla and coffee. Silky texture on a medium-weighted palate with perfumed flavors that permeate up to the nose. Lively, visceral and brooding.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This bottling is one of the most reliably delicious Pinot Noirs for less than $30 each vintage, and this year is one of the best. Warm, even buttery aromas of brioche, strawberry jam and baking spice prove immensely inviting, leading into an approachable yet complex palate where fruit-punch flavors are lifted by clove, tart plum skins and vanilla on the finish. Editors’ Choice
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Wine Spectator
Dark cherry and dried blueberry flavors are richly spiced in this juicy style. Notes of dried beef intensify on the finish, which features chocolate and mint accents. Drink now through 2020. 8,207 cases made.
Pinot Noir is the second-most planted grape in Santa Barbara County, just behind Chardonnay. It thrives in cooler areas of the region, namely in the of the Sta. Rita Hills, which is part of Santa Barbara’s larger Santa Ynez Valley sub-appellation. Thought for decades to be too cool for viticulture, Sta. Rita Hills began to gain notoriety in the 1970’s, thanks to the pioneering work of Richard Sandford and Michael Benedict, among others.
Santa Barbara Pinot Noir dances across the palate with vivid red fruit and spice. Precision, bright acidity, elegance and fruit-driven silkiness make Santa Barbara Pinot delightfully enjoyable, whether on their own or with a variety of dishes.