Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sweet-and-sour character to this with dried strawberry, toasted-oak and lime undertones. Full to medium body, fine tannins and a creamy finish. Contrastive. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The pale to medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow Vineyard was aged ten months in 40% new French oak. It has inviting, open-knit aromas of cranberry sauce, wild blackberries, blood orange, clove and turned earth plus notes of amaro and tobacco. The silky, light to medium-bodied palate offers lovely, earth-tinged fruits with a grainy, fresh frame and long, layered finish.
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Wine Spectator
The lithe flavors of red plum, raspberry and cherry pastry feature sandalwood and cedar accents, backed by medium-grained tannins. Plump, spicy finish
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Wine Enthusiast
There are savory iodine and sanguine kicks to the nose of this bottling, with dried boysenberry and leather aromas as well. That earthy, meaty element carries to the sip, where dried cherry and shiitake mushroom flavors show.
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.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.