Winemaker Notes
Smoke Tree Pinot Noir has tones of black cherry, plum and cola with hints of allspice and rusticity. The palate is silky and well-framed with a clean finish. It is true to the varietal, savory and refined.
Smoke Tree Pinot Noir is delicious whenever wine comes to mind. For a more creative pairing, consider richly spiced barbecue or a charcuterie and cheese plate. For a vegetarian option, our winemaker recommends falafel -- a personal favorite!
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Whenever I taste New World Pinot Noir, I often battle my palate with Burgundies before I was born. Not because, I stay with traditions, but those were the wines that I cut my teeth on and remember all too well. The 2016 Smoke Tree brings me back to the present and the superb work with Pinot Noirs in my neck of the woods. TASTING NOTES: This wine is rich, fresh, and lovely. Its bright aromas and flavors of red fruit, black fruit, and its lush textures make me want to grill an "Impossible Burger" (the ones without meat) and enjoy. (Tasted: April 15, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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 a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.