Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Pinot Noir Chenoweth Ranch is a sexy, opulent, 871-case cuvee aged in two-thirds new French oak that includes 10% stems. A classic Russian River Pinot, it offers up scents of baking spices, cloves, chocolate, Christmas fruitcake, cinnamon, black cherries and black raspberries. Spicy, heady, rich and full-bodied, this ostentatious, in-your-face Pinot Noir possesses sweet, velvety, seamless tannins and crisp acidity. Drink now-2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
A vineyard source since 2004, this Chenoweth is earthy and distinctly intense, rich and robust in blackberry and black cherry with strong elements of black pepper and cinnamon. The acidity is balanced and veering on mineral, with subtle oak on the finish and a rewarding touch of dark chocolate. The density of the tannins suggest further cellaring, through 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a tight, juicy beam of red and dark berry flavors, with shades of anise and cedar, gaining depth and fanning out on the finish where the flavors commingle and the tannins impart traction. Drink now through 2021.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.