Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is wonderfully crafted with aromas and flavors of ripe strawberries and raspberries, as well as cream, light chocolate and earth. Full body, creamy texture and a long, flavorful finish. Tangy acidity drives the vivid and lively finish. Hard not to drink now. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This label comes from Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2017 Pinot Noir Ma Danseuse needs a little coaxing to release the wonderful perfume of exotic scents—bergamot, sandalwood, cassia and cinnamon stick—over a cove of Morello cherries, lilacs, dark chocolate and black raspberries, plus a waft of spearmint. Medium-bodied, the palate is incredibly fresh, silken textured and light on its feet and yet with fantastic intensity, finishing long and mineral laced. 1,410 cases were made.
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Wine Spectator
Pure and redolent of crushed cherry, currant and plum flavors. Medium-grained tannins and crisp acidity give this heft, with a lingering finish of forest floor and hot stone details, and hints of dried sage. Best from 2020 through 2024. 1,410 cases made.
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.