Winemaker Notes
English Hill, planted in 2005, is an 8.5 acre vineyard located 9.2 miles from the Pacific Ocean in Occidental, overlooking Tomales and the Marin Coast Range. It sits at an elevation of 652 feet and is comprised of Goldridge, Sandy Loam and Steinbeck Fine Sandy Loam soils. Clones harvested include Vosne Romanee, 115, and 667. The site is turbulent and exposed, featuring cool afternoon breezes and lengthy ripening seasons.
This ethereal Pinot enters with lightness and expands rapidly on the palate, showing notes of coastal forest floor, baking spice, earth, and dried tea and herbs. The small berries contribute a higher skin to pulp ratio, which gives this lovely wine a deceiving power.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This lightly ripe wine shows sizzling acidity that bolsters notes of forest floor, black tea, orange and lemon peel. With fantastic floral aromas, it shot puts acidity against an underbelly of tannin and quiet oak.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.