Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
The purity of fruit here is impressive, with raspberry, iodine and hints of mussel shell. Créme de framboise. Full body with firm, silky tannins and a long finish. The aromatics are crazy here. Great tannin structure. The finish comes out of nowhere with aniseed.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Lusher, more expansive and savory, the 2012 Pinot Noir La Caprice (1,485 cases) possesses stunning richness, and is more approachable and exuberant than the 2013 with the vintage’s boisterousness and heady, intense fruit well-displayed. The color is a dense ruby/plum/purple, and the wine exhibits lots of red and blackcurrant, dark cherry and foresty notes. It, too, should drink well for 10-15 years.
-
Wine Spectator
While tight and tannic, this slowly unfolds to reveal a more supple, graceful core of plum and wild berry fruit that's firmly tannic without being weighty, ending with a charming finish that echoes the wilted rose suppleness of the core flavors. Drink now through 2022.
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.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.