Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose of this Pinot is lifted by aromas of fresh berries, Bing cherries, pithy orange peel, and black tea. The palate brings neatly balanced tannin and acid, with ripe cherry-berry fruit flavors and savory spice melange ebbing and flowing through the finale.
Editors' Choice -
Tasting Panel
If there's a superstar site in Petaluma Gap, it's Gap's Crown Vineyard, where persistent winds and fog ensure a long hangtime. The results show in this exciting whole-cluster red aged 15 months in (45% new) French oak. A pinch of earthiness lightly touches cinnamon-dusted cherries as the liquid's delicacy graces the palate like a lace veil. Pomegranate is spiced with clove and bright acidity imparts freshness, satisfying through the juicy, dark-fruited finish.
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James Suckling
On the nose, crushed raspberries, chalk, tart red berries, pink peppercorns and orange zest. The light-bodied palate is bright, with tart, juicy red fruit, citrus oil and an undercurrent of resinous herbs. A long finish and seamless tannins are woven into the abundant acidity.
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Wine Spectator
This shows the succulent, fresh, charming aspect of the vintage, with red tea, rose hip, cherry and raspberry notes laced together with a light sandalwood accent. Puts on a little weight in the glass. Delicious. Drink now through 2031.
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.