Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
More spice, dried earth, herbes de Provence, and ripe cherry and strawberry fruit notes emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills, a richer, medium to full-bodied, fruit-loaded effort. It's one of the bigger, richer wines in the appellation series.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The medium ruby colored 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills has a perfumed nose of warm blackberries, bright red cherries and cranberries with nuances of underbrush, dried flowers and warm spices. Medium-bodied, it’s bright, open, juicy and lively in the mouth with loads of spice and perfume, finishing long.
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.