Winemaker Notes
Rich concentrated aromas of black cherry, cinnamon, with a touch of mineral that is unique to this vineyard. This wine is a blend of Rochioli West Block selection, Pommard and a touch of a secret. Its full flavors and firm structure make this wine great one for your cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Pinot Noir Little Hill is another stunning wine. Darker cherries, currants, forest floor, spice, and plenty of earthy, floral notes emerge from this beauty, and it's rich and medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate and building, ripe tannins. It's still youthful and unevolved yet loaded with potential.
Rating: 95+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pinot Noir Little Hill has a pale ruby-purple color and is deeply scented of blackberries, mushrooms, loamy earth, iodine and blood orange. The medium-bodied palate is seamless and silky, with dark, earth-laced fruits and a long, spice-laced finish.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.