Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
he 2023 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is a deeper youthful shade of ruby and is super-elegant and floral. Ripe with notes of black raspberry and fresh violets, the palate is refined and elegant, with polished tannins and a long, seamless finish. It’s so good now, but don’t be in a rush to open it. Get a case and open over the coming 10 years. It’s a stunner among the appellation wines and an outstanding red.
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Wine Spectator
A sappy red, with linzer torte, kirsch and boysenberry compote notes melded together, carried by racy and deeply embedded acidity. A range of wood spice, black tea, singed apple wood and bramble lends fuel to the structured finish, allowing the fruit to pump through decisively and lengthily. Best from 2026 through 2032. 1,165 cases made.
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.