Spear Estate Pinot Noir 2018
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Cranberry, green figs, and bright red cherry on the nose. Strawberry, raspberry, and tea leaves on the palate. The mouth feel is firm, spicy, and dry.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
There’s tremendous purity to the red cherry and hibiscus aromas on the nose of this bottling, which also shows aromas of bay leaf and dried herbs. The texture is immediately compelling on the sip, where rich cherry flavors are sprinkled with black tea, cardamom and coriander.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the reds, the 2018 Pinot Noir Estate was 70% destemmed and brought up in neutral oak. It has a beautiful perfume of ripe strawberry and raspberries intermixed with notes of spring flowers and spice. This carries to a medium-bodied, elegant Pinot with nicely integrated acidity and a great finish. It's a classy, balanced, terrific 2018.
Other Vintages
2020-
Jeb
Dunnuck
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.