Winemaker Notes
Cool garnet in color with aromas of pomegranate and fresh roses, The Pinot Project Pinot Noir is balanced on the palate with notes of black cherry and five-spice and a smooth, lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fresh and refined pinot with strawberries, hints of cherries and blanched walnuts on the nose and palate. Medium body, silky tannins and a flavorful finish. Shows subtlety and flavor. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is such a great buy from importer Michael Skurnik who turned to California for this wine. While supple in texture, the wine packs in dense red-cherry and ripe raspberry aromas and flavors that seem subtle at first but slowly open and expand with each sniff and sip. It has good layering and an excellent balance of moderate tannins and acidity. 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.