Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Jenkins is a Charlie Chenoweth-farmed site, an 18-acre vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills. Spicy acidity cradles considerable weight and breadth, accented in rose petals, cardamom and an elusive partnership of raspberry and strawberry. It's entirely exotic and delicious, both concentrated and lush.
Editors' Choice
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James Suckling
Very pretty dried strawberry with lemon rind and hints of cream on the nose. Full body, round and soft tannins and a delicious finish with lots of fruit and intensity. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
More is produced of the 2014 Pinot Noir Jenkins Ranch (1,342 cases), which comes from an 18-acre vineyard west of the small village of Sebastopol. This is classic Goldridge gravelly, loamy soil in the vineyard, planted with Dijon clones 667 and 777. This wine tends to be a relatively rich, intense, more broodingly backward, fuller-bodied and extracted style of Pinot Noir. It has a dark ruby/plum color, a big sweet kiss of forest floor, black raspberries and black cherries, spices, and hints of cocoa and oak (about 60% new French oak is used). This is full-bodied with light tannin and should improve for 3-4 years and drink well for at least another decade.
Rating: 92+
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.