Winemaker Notes
Enjoy with beef carpaccio or roasted quail.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Brilliant ruby-red. A drop-dead, highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red berries, incense, candied flowers and star anise, accompanied by a smoky mineral overlay. Sweet, animated and precise on the palate, offering intense raspberry, cherry and spicecake flavors given lift and spine by juicy acidity. Powerful yet lithe, displaying outstanding finishing energy and silky, even tannins that build steadily and in harmony with the vibrant fruit.
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Wine Enthusiast
The unfolding layers of aroma on the nose of this bottling—sesame, white pepper, rose and wild berry, to name a few—keep one coming back for more. The palate is textured and finishes on an uplifting note, showing raspberry, dried flowers, fresh herbs and a hint of menthol toward the end.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Pinot Noir Rosemary's Vineyard is pale to medium ruby. The nose opens with nutmeg, clove and pipe tobacco over dried currants, raisin cake, sweet spices and loads of red berries nuances plus notes of potpourri and dried flowers. Light to medium-bodied, it’s silky, spicy and intense, with a grainy frame and good freshness, finishing long and broody. This is a touch disjointed at the moment—it may be in an awkward phase, so give it another couple of years before you pop the corks.
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Wine & Spirits
Rosemary’s is Brian Talley’s coolest vineyard, yet this isn’t a shy wine in the warm, dry 2014 vintage. The hillside’s shaley clay loam, perhaps, contributes the earthen savor that frames the wine’s sweet oak and sappy, dark-cherry-scented fruit. It’s a luxury pinot noir with structure, the tannins giving it a crunchy freshness in the end, like spicy cherry skin. (594 cases)
Let’s start with the obvious – Central Coast Pinot Noir is an incredibly broad category. This of course is because the Central Coast appellation is enormous, and it contains several stellar Pinot Noir regions within it, all of them kept cool by elevation or proximity to the ocean (or both). So we’ll break things down a bit with a brief look at each of these: Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey and the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills. These are not the only Central Coast sources of good Pinot Noir, but they are the major ones. So let’s get started.
In the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, just west of Silicon Valley, producers craft excellent Pinot in spite of serious challenges. The land is mountainous, rugged and can be foggy, the topsoil is thin and poor and yields tend to be low. Yet Pinots from the likes of David Bruce, Martin Ray, Mount Eden and Thomas Fogarty exhibit undeniable quality, along with bright red fruit, minerality, earth and herbal hints.
Just south lies the large Monterey appellation. Monterey Pinot Noir is grown in coastal areas, taking optimal advantage of the cooling effect of the Pacific. The most highly regarded of these is the Santa Lucia Highlands. Situated on hilly benchlands south of the city of Monterey, this central coast region relies on a long growing season, night and morning fog and consistent afternoon winds to produce world class Pinot Noir. Attributes include intense, rich fruit, subtle earthy notes, spice and a silky texture. Look for producers like Siduri, Kosta Browne, Talbott and Lucienne.
The Santa Maria Valley in northern Santa Barbara County (a section of it falls into southern San Luis Obispo County) is also a haven for quality Pinot Noir. A mere 15 miles from the Pacific, the valley runs east-west, creating a natural tunnel through which ocean breezes and fog flow. This effect lengthens the growing season and promotes both ripeness and development of acidity, lending Santa Maria Valley Pinots their characteristic full flavor, balance and elegance. The famous Bien Nacido Vineyard is located here, and notable producers include Cambria, Foxen, Byron and Au Bon Climat.
Finally, we arrive at the Sta. Rita Hills, also in Santa Barbara County. Located in the western part of the Santa Ynez Valley, it too benefits from an east-west orientation that leads to the same conditions mentioned above. Once again the result is extended hang time for the grapes, which can be tasted in the vibrant, ripe red fruits evident in these Pinots, along with dense coloration and an impression of richness and intensity. Try wines from producers like Ken Brown, Ampelos, Fess Parker and Melville.
As you can see, California’s Central Coast offers a wealth of options for any lover of Pinot Noir. Cheers!