Racines Sanford and Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017
-
Wong
Wilfred - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict is sensual, silky and impeccable in its balance. There is lovely nuance in the glass to match the wine's mid-weight, restrained personality. Sweet floral notes and purplish fruit linger in the glass.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Racines Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir sails on the palate like a magic carpet ride in Beaune. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits lovely richness and persistence. Enjoy its complex aromas and flavors of red and black fruits with grilled, rosemary-accented lamb chops. (Tasted: October 28, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
-
Decanter
The 2017 Racines Wine Co. Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir is sourced from three separate parcels, and includes a portion of the original, own-rooted vines planted in 1971. The nose is classic Sanford & Benedict, combining freshness of fruit with crushed stones and an airy texture. Flavours of orange rinds and red plum skins segue into a finish that takes a few seconds to really set in and show itself. As with the rest of the Racines wines, there is structure here for the long term and the wines should be cellared for a least a few years.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled one week before I tasted it, the 2017 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is medium ruby and youthfully shy, giving up black and red cherry preserves, orange peel, warm earth, raspberry and rhubarb with cinnamon stick and dried herbs. Medium-bodied with intense, spicy fruits, it has firm, chalky tannins and seamless acidity, finishing long.
Racines is first a collaboration—the creative and rigorous output of four great voices of wine. Justin Willett of Tyler Winery has been joined in his home appellation, the Sta. Rita Hills, by Étienne de Montille and Brian Sieve of Domaine de Montille and our own Rodolphe Péters of Pierre Péters. Together, they are marrying the time-honored techniques of Burgundy and Champagne with the pioneering energy of California—and, in the process, they are rediscovering the nuances of the appellation’s most iconic vineyards.
Following the consolidation of Domaine de Montille, a family estate that dates back to the 1730s, Étienne de Montille looked to California, eager for an opportunity to engage new terroir with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as his lens. In 2016 he set off on a month of travel among the state’s myriad appellations, meeting their winemakers, tasting their wines. In short order it became apparent that the promise he was seeking lay in the Sta. Rita Hills—and the partner for such ambition was already there.
By 2016 Justin Willett, a son of Santa Barbara and career winemaker, had over a decade of experience coaxing forth the character of the region’s best vineyards. Étienne and Justin turned to compelling vineyard blocks that Justin had long coveted, and together they have presented refreshing new entries in the most important discussions of the appellation. And then, of course, there’s Rodolphe Péters. In 2018, Rodolphe joined Racines in deepening their understanding of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay. Their first sparkling wines, now en tirage, are likely to debut in late autumn.
What’s more, in addition to the quick work they’ve made of benchmark sites – from Bentrock to Sanford & Benedict – Racines has leased the Wenzlau Vineyard and embarked on replanting its upper blocks. They have also purchased land adjacent to the Tyler estate vineyards. Planting here will commence this spring and continue in the spring of 2021.
The wines here possess more structure and resonance than encountered in Tyler’s ethereal approach. New cooperage and custom vats, tailored to Étienne’s technique, have been imported. The Pinots are composed using further stem inclusion, more extraction, and longer vatting. The Chardonnays are raised with more finessing of the fine lees and longer élevage. The results are immediately apparent in the glass: these are tensile and crystalline expressions of the Sta. Rita Hills– at once familiar and rendered anew.
Farming Practice:
Practicing Organic
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.