Winemaker Notes
Captivating cherry, pipe tobacco, and garam masala curry aromas emerge from deep in the glass. A lead mineral element enters in the mid-palate with plum, robust red fruits, and late fall forest notes lingering on a very long finish that appears to build and broaden with more air and time.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Ama means ‘the land’ in the Cashia language, and the wines of Peay are focused on communicating place and showing site; this wine is about the mid-palate for Peay winemaker Vanessa Wong. The Ama bottling came on in 2009 from 4 different clones but focused on two. This wine is about the generosity and intensity of pure fruit. gaomas of berries and red plums are accented by warm spice. The palate of the 2022 is exceptional, with concentrated wild strawberries, pomegranate pulp, cherry skins, tart Montmorency cherry, and a touch of iron.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sporting a bright, youthful red color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Ama Estate is elegant and very lovely on the nose, with notes of sea spray, dark crushed rocks, compact red berries, and cinnamon. It has fantastic length and a bright linear feel, with mouthwatering acidity and a compact feel through the long, lovely, savory finish. Drink 2026-2046.
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Vinous
The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate Ama is supple and forward, not to mention wonderfully appealing. Succulent red/purplish fruit, cola, spice, mint and mocha show lovely generosity. The Ama is quite engaging. Drink it over the next decade or so.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Estate Pinot Noir Ama has alluring aromas of strawberry, raspberry and pomegranate with accents of tea leaves, dried herbs and Angostura bitters. The medium-bodied palate offers understated, spicy fruit delivered in a silky texture, bright acidity to lure you in for another sip and a long, spicy finish. There's no need to cellar this—it's delicious straight from the bottle.
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.