Winemaker Notes
Always classic and elegant, La Encantada delivers each year! This site, planted by Richard Sanford in 2000, was Santa Barbara County’s first certified organic vineyard. Soils derived from the organic rich Monterey formation which consists of Gazos clay-loam, Ballard fine sandy-loam, and Santa Lucia shaly clay-loam. The 2017 is reliable and elegant with fine structure. Ultra red fruit along with the sites signature minerality and salinity provide incredible depth and a long, satisfying finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard has a pale to medium ruby color and very pretty perfume of orange oil, violet, lilac, blueberries and crushed stone plus accents of sagebrush, blackberries and red berry sparks. Light to medium-bodied, it offers elegantly restrained, perfumed fruits in the mouth with a firm frame of chalky tannins and juicy acidity, finishing long. 141 cases produced.
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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.