Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with Coq au vin, mushroom rissotto, and cheese fondue.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a succulent array of ripe red fruit, set amid some forest complexity – typical for pinot noir. The palate is both supple and even. Really measured and balanced pinot here.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is an intensely earthy, bold and brawny red wine from the producer's great estate vineyard—a study in medium-bodied fruit and spice. Red currant, strawberry and citrus figure prominently into the mix, as oak and tannin make themselves known.
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.