Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a small vineyard located just behind Kistler, the 2012 Pinot Noir Ewald Vineyard offers up pretty strawberry, blueberry, rose and exotic tropical notes to go with a soft, supple, yet beautifully pure style on the palate. While I don’t think this will make old bones, it should evolve nicely over the coming 3-4 years given its overall balance, purity and harmony.
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Wine Spectator
Pure, rich and layered, showing vibrant, raspberry, blueberry and wild berry notes, with touches of stem-laced tannins and savory floral and dusty berry scents. Ends with firm, gripping tannins and good length. Drink now through 2023.
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.