Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Dwarf Oak Pinot Noir is a delightful combination of soft bright red fruits. On the nose bright red cherry, strawberry, and plum are layered with peppery notes. The palate echoes the aromas along with baking spice – cinnamon, and a touch of clove. This wine has a touch of vanilla, bright vibrant acidity, and a lengthy finish. Serve the ’19 Dwarf Oak Pinot Noir with rosemary roasted chicken, grilled portobello mushroom, or your favorite charcuterie and cheese spread.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Black plum, mulberry and woody incense aromas converge on the nose of this estate bottling. The palate is more lush in baked boysenberry flavors, with thyme, peppercorn and bay leaf adding spice.
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.”
Home to some of California’s most influential winemaking pioneers of the late 1800s, Paul Masson and Charles Lefranc, the Santa Clara Valley AVA hugs up against the southwestern border of today’s famous Silicon Valley and excels in the production of bold reds, as well as some whites.