Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Also pouring a pale straw color, the 2013 Blanc De Noirs is soft and floral with tropical flowers, ripe kiwi, candied peach, and honeysuckle. It has a light smokiness on the nose as well, with a bit more of that wet stone minerality and juicy wild strawberry throughout. It has a more approachable nature.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Blanc de Noirs Heintz Vineyard, disgorged in November of 2017, features savory tones of matchstick and iodine on the nose and undercurrents of golden apple and dried lemon peel. The medium-bodied palate is sot and creamy with rich, ripe fruit and a long, candy apple finish.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.