Winemaker Notes
#31 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buys of 2018
The Crusher Pinot Noir opens with aromas of cranberry, dark cherry and hints of violet. Lightly toasted vanilla lifts the palate, a result of one year of French oak aging. A balanced and food-friendly wine with firm tannins, elegant depth and soft fruit flavors.
Pair with a California-inspired dish such as Grilled Salmon topped with fresh mango salsa!
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fully ripe and rich, this mouthfilling wine oozes black plum and clove aromas, vibrant black-cherry and coriander flavors and is bolstered by firm tannins and a full body. It's big, bold and complex at the same time.
Best Buy
Internationally recognized for gorgeous, pure fruit combined with great elegance, California Pinot noir thrives among the state’s cooler, coastal zones. Characterized by eclectic flavors and aromas of strawberry, black cherry, plum and potpourri with notes of forest floor, mushroom or black tea, the best California Pinot noir boast a supple texture and good acidity, giving them the ability to improve with age.
Credited with the beginning of Pinot noir’s glory in California, two growers, Joe Rochioli and Joseph Swan in the late 1960s independently planted Pinot noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Today Sonoma County remains the leading producer of Pinot noir in the state, and Pinot noir is the leading red grape in the county, achieving its highest potential, in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
Other coastal appellations where Pinot noir flourishes include Carneros, Anderson Valley and most of the Central Coast.