Winemaker Notes
The 2017 La Rinconada Pinot Noir offers very distinct aromas of rosewater, cinnamon, and dark fruits. It is a subtle, complete, and suave wine. The fine tannins play well with the richness of the \vintage. This wine was aged in French casks for 14 months where it aged gracefully and achieved lovely integration. This wine is delicious now yet has the balance and structure to age gracefully for some time.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Aged in 28% new French oak, the 2017 Pinot Noir La Rinconada Estate is slightly deeper ruby/plum-colored and gives up lots of mulberry and black raspberry fruits as well as sappy flowers, forest floor, and plenty of salinity and subtle marine-like notes. It's medium to full-bodied, has an elegant, seamless texture, beautiful purity, and a great finish. It's impressive!
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir La Rinconada Vineyard, aged 14 months in 28% new French oak, has a broody, deep perfume this vintage, with crushed red and black cherries accented by dried violets, earth, citrus peel and tea leaves. The medium-bodied palate is silky and expansive with layered, juicy, earth-tinged fruits and a long finish
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.