Winemaker Notes
This exquisite Pinot Noir, from obsessively tended vines, expresses precision and a distinct sense of place. This amazing site is expressing itself with purity of fruit, great natural acidity, satisfying tannins, minerality and even some distinct savory characteristics. Small Vines is very excited about this deliciously concentrated vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay TBH Vineyard was fermented in barrel, aged eight months in 7% new French oak and finished in stainless steel. It has a youthfully reserved nose, flourishing to aromas of orange blossom, honey toast, hazelnut and cream over a core of baked Golden Delicious apple and white stone fruits with mineral hints. Medium-bodied, it has great texture in the mouth with concentrated stone fruits accented by nutty and toasty flavors, with wonderful juicy acidity and a long, minerally finish. 297 cases produced.
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.”
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.