Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fresh, linear, eye-opening young wine that's delicious and appetizing, and will develop more complexity and nuance with time in the bottle. Stunning aromas of black cherries, vibrant raspberries and cedary spices lead to mouthwatering red cherry, cranberry, star anise and mineral flavors that expand on the palate
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir Le Caprice has inviting aromas of red and black cherry, cranberry, blood orange, violet, licorice, pipe tobacco and foresty undertones, and it becomes more expressive as it airs in the glass. The full-bodied palate is brimming with layer after layer of spicy fruit. It’s framed by silky tannins, and its succulent acidity is irresistible. It has a long, latent finish and will benefit from several years in the cellar.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the Sonoma Coast, the 2023 Pinot Noir Le Caprice Estate pours a youthful ruby color and is ripe on the nose with aromas of raspberry liqueur, toasted spice, brambly ripe herbs, and fresh earth. The palate is medium-bodied, with ripe tannins that have a bit more breadth and richness, but it retains a refreshing acidity and has a long, spiced finish.
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Wine Spectator
Shows a fresh edge, with a mix of cherry, pomegranate and blood orange compote notes laced with red tea and a flash of sandalwood. Theres a pretty rose water echo on the polished finish. Drink now through 2030. 979 cases made.
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.”
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.