Winemaker Notes
Sandhi Sanford and Benedict Pinot Noir is a beautifully layered and nuanced wine with notes of sweet red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange, mint and white pepper. The wine is wonderfully deep, fleshy and nuanced.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict was made with whole clusters and has pretty aromas of cranberries, blackberries, flint, tobacco leaves and citrus peel. The medium-bodied palate is chalky, fresh and saline to begin, fleshing out to spicy, earth-laced fruits on the layered finish. Rating: 93+
-
Vinous
The 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict is gracious and lifted. Sweet red berry fruit, crushed flowers, rose petal and mint open gently in the glass. There's a good bit of stem influence here, and yet all the elements are so well balanced. This nuanced, understated Pinot from Sandhi is a winner.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.