Winemaker Notes
Rich with dark fruits, black raspberries, currants, and spice that express the unique time and place on the California coast. The velvety tannins are masterfully layered and balanced with acidity for a long, luxurious finish.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Jayson Woodbridge of Hundred Acre compares Golden Hour to his Super Chill Chardonnay, explaining how slight alterations in blending create an entirely new expression. 'When I look at this, I think of Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali—not when they are fighting, but when they are calm'. 100% Pinot Noir from the West Sonoma Coast, the whole berries are fermented in puncheons and barriques. Aged in tight-grained Taransaud barrels from the Vosges forest, which are blonde in colour, this wine is bottled unfined. It showcases super bright cranberry and raspberry fruit, along with cherry compote, crushed cacao nibs, and terrific cedarwood notes. It possesses broad-shouldered, muscular tannins with rich, creamy fruit characters framed by a sea breeze—a salty spray that brings vibrant energy to the wine.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Redcurrants, framboise, sweet, loamy earth, and spicy nuances all shine in the 2022 Pinot Noir Golden Hour, a pure, medium to full-bodied, supple, seductive beauty that has ripe tannins and gorgeous overall balance. It's a forward, supple, yet beautifully pure and still focused 2022 to drink over the coming decade.
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.