Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A pretty wine with lovely texture and delicacy. Medium to full body, juicy fruit and a plum and walnut aftertaste.
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Wine Spectator
A broad-shouldered youngster, ripe and loaded with zesty raspberry, blackberry, spice, floral and light oak flavors, this impresses in terms of focus, weight, persistence and size, showing room to age and gain. Ends with snappy acidity and ripe tannins. Best from 2018 through 2026.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Showing just the right amount of oak, the black-fruited 2015 Sonoma-Loeb Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir offers a New World spin of this grape variety, yet shows its respect for traditional balance. The wine's sweet tannins and richness on the palate pair it well with lamb from the rotisserie. (Tasted: December 24, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.