Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Rodgers Creek Vineyard has a unashamedly stemmy nose, revealing notes of dried herbs and garrigue over a core of crushed cranberries, violets, forest floor and wild strawberries. Medium-bodied with a softly spoken palate of delicate red fruits and gentle herbs, it has a seamlessly silky backbone and herbal lift on the finish. Classically styled with a Sonoma twist and nicely done!
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Wine Enthusiast
Lush and full-bodied layers of velvety texture support firm flavors of baked cherry, pomegranate, pine forest and earth, a vibrant current of acidity bursting beneath. Layers of tannin provide a hearty mouthfeel and sense of density, signaling a robust vintage.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.