Winemaker Notes
Notes of wild blackberry, pomegranate and baking spice.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A pinot with spice, cedar and orange-peel aromas and flavors. Licorice and crushed stone. Clove and white pepper. Black tea, too. Flavorful and focused. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is fresh with wild raspberry, cinnamon, wild herbs, and fresh violets. The palate has silky texture, with ripe cherry through the mid-palate and floral notes as well as a touch of cola spice on the finish.
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.