Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the Sta. Rita Hills releases, the 2020 Pinot Noir Seabiscuit Zotovich Vineyard has a complex bouquet of spiced red berry fruits as well as forest floor, loamy earth, baking spices, and some sea-like brine and iron nuances. Beautiful on the palate, it's tight, structured, and focused, with medium to full-bodied richness, present tannins, and a great finish. It needs a year or two, but this is brilliant juice. Rating: 96+
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.