Winemaker Notes
Aromas of blackberry, violets, raspberry and clove lead to flavors of plum, slate, pomegranate and blood orange. The finish is long and lively. Try this wine with wild mushroom risotto or grilled ribeye.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Noir Rosemary's Vineyard is a classy, elegant wine. Bright red-toned fruit, cinnamon, dried leaves, tobacco and orange peel are beautifully lifted. Translucent and super-expressive, with tons of energy, the 2021 is absolutely compelling. It's a terrific wine from Brian Talley.
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Wine Enthusiast
Enticing red cherry and pomegranate aromas gain depth from the fennel pollen and crushed thyme elements on the nose of this single-vineyard expression. The palate is tense and snappy with bright acidity, as raspberry flavors meet with wild mint and light tarragon.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Pinot Noir Rosemary's Vineyard is a step up and has a beautiful nose of ripe framboise, spring flowers, black tea, and leather. As with all of the Pinot Noirs here, it plays in the medium-bodied, elegant (at times mid-weight) style of the estate, but the balance is spot on, it has beautiful tannins, and a great finish. This incredibly seductive, elegant 2021 will evolve for at least a decade.
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.”
One of the coolest growing areas in California, the Arroyo Grande Valley runs from the southwest to the northeast, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean and is part of the Central Coast AVA. Situated so that cold Pacific Ocean air and fog is allowed to filter into the valley, Arroyo Grande also has an incredibly long growing season. Bud break occurs in February in most years with flowering in May and harvest in late September; the area is classified as cool Mediterranean.
These weather factors combined with the soil types—continental and marine rocks, greywacke, limestone, shale and volcanic—create wines with great concentration and fresh acidity. The cooler end of the valley is perfect for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and is a good producer of sparkling wines. The warmer, more inland part of the valley is home to some of California’s oldest Zinfandel vines.