Winemaker Notes
From vineyards that lie on the Santa Rosa Road corridor of the Santa Rita Hills and farmed using organic practices. These sites consist of varying soil types from sandy loam, clay loam, chert, shale. This is a wine that we believe best represents the potential of the region as a whole. Vineyards: La Mesa Vineyard, La Encantada Vineyard, La Rinconada Vineyard & Sanford & Benedict Vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita is an attractive ethereal wine. Sweet dried cherry, mint, tobacco and sage are some of the aromas and flavors that open in the glass. I would give this a few years in bottle to soften. This is an especially savory style of Pinot with plenty of aromatic presence, and the fruit pushed into the background. The Sta. Rita hills cuvee is a blend of fruit from Domaine de la Cote and La Encantada.
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.