Winemaker Notes
Grapes for this wine were sourced from Sangiacomo Vineyard along Roberts Road. The vineyard is moderated by a cool, windy climate, allowing the grapes to achieve optimal ripening while retaining natural acidity. This wine has a creamy texture with concentrated flavors of red fruit and earth.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Bright and vivid pinot with sliced strawberry, white pepper and citrus rind character. It’s medium-bodied with racy tannins and a spicy, intense finish. Some sea salt at the end.
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Wine Spectator
Leads with wood spice, black tea and sous-bois notes, backed by a core of mulled raspberry and black cherry accents. Reveals nice energy as this stays tightly focused through the finish.
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.