Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Rusack SBC Pinot Noir is a favorite among restaurateurs. This wine is packed with bright juicy notes of strawberries, raspberries, and caramel, with subtle hints of orange meringue. Firm acidity and an elegant balance make for a very approachable food friendly wine.
The grapes for this Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir hail from three vineyards, both influenced by the cooling fog of the nearby Pacific and perfectly suited for growing Pinot Noir. The grapes are sourced from Solomon Hills Vineyard in Santa Maria (50%), and John Sebastiano Vineyard (30%) and Fiddlestix Vineyard (20%) both located in the Sta. Rita Hills.
Upon delivery to the winery early in the morning, the grapes were de-stemmed and placed into small 1-ton bins, where they were punched down by hand 2-3 times each day. The resulting wine was transferred into French oak barrels, of which 35% were new, and aged for 11 months. It was then bottled unfiltered, given a few months of bottle aging to allow the flavors to integrate, and released in Spring 2021.
Pinot Noir is the second-most planted grape in Santa Barbara County, just behind Chardonnay. It thrives in cooler areas of the region, namely in the of the Sta. Rita Hills, which is part of Santa Barbara’s larger Santa Ynez Valley sub-appellation. Thought for decades to be too cool for viticulture, Sta. Rita Hills began to gain notoriety in the 1970’s, thanks to the pioneering work of Richard Sandford and Michael Benedict, among others.
Santa Barbara Pinot Noir dances across the palate with vivid red fruit and spice. Precision, bright acidity, elegance and fruit-driven silkiness make Santa Barbara Pinot delightfully enjoyable, whether on their own or with a variety of dishes.