Winemaker Notes
The 2023 Red Car Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir shows notes of dark red cherry, plum, pomegranate, and cedar.
This Estate Vineyard, planted in 2005, crowns the northwest corner of King Ridge Road above Fort Ross in Sonoma County. Situated at 900-1000 feet, it's characterized by coastal redwoods and the fog-laden Pacific Ocean, moderating temperatures but making it prone to rain and fog during flowering, yielding low. The vines grow in fractured marine sandstone from the Ohlson Ranch Formation, akin to the Goldridge series but with less clay and more stone.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A deep and powerful wine, showing great fruit concentration and a firm structure, braced by taut tannins. Raspberry, blackberry and cranberry flavors with vivid acidity prep it for a potentially long life ahead. Best from 2030.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a deeper ruby color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard is layered and savory with ripe cherries, fresh herbs, sweet earth, and polished spice. Medium-bodied, it has refined tannins, good concentration, and a lifted, savory finish. Drink over the coming 10-12 years. Drink 2026-2038.
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Wine Enthusiast
Positively vibrant aromas of raspberry and pomegranate jump from the glass on the nose of this Pinot. The palate delivers loads of fresh fruit punch, berry, and spice flavors, with rich tannin, juicy acid, and echoes of black tea, nori, cinnamon and spice through the finish.
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Wine Spectator
This offers up a wave of black cherry and boysenberry compote notes framed by burnished apple wood and anise. The silky finish is a touch shy on energy, especially for the vintage, but its generous nature will win this fans.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Estate wafts up with a dark yet delicate mix of minty herbs, cedar shavings and clove. Juicy and fresh within, it displays citrus-infused wild berry fruits and subtle mineral tones. This 2023 finishes with medium length and a tart, cheek-puckering tinge of citrus and spice.
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.