Winemaker Notes
This Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a perfect blend of Red Car’s most notable, cool-climate vineyards in Fort Ross, Freestone and Occidental. This wine is the Pinot Noir that allows our winemaker to sample each barrel to decide which blend best represents Red Car. Naturally low in alcohol and high in acidity, the 2017 is a mix of heritage and Dijon clones that were hand-sorted, then fermented with native yeast in small open top fermenters and aged in primarily neutral French oak barrels. This wine is a consistent reminder of what defines Sonoma Coast, a benchmark for Red Car Wine and the region as a whole.
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.