Winemaker Notes
Exhibiting the reds fruits of Oppenlander, the nose is highlighted with ripe cherry and cola nut, while earthier notes of sweet marjoram, dried leaves, and flint clearly come from the Mariah mountain fruit. Medium weight in the mouth and with bright acidity, this wine is full enough to stand up to grilled vegetables or a simple pasta with fresh tomato sauce, yet is delicious just to sip and savor.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This nicely balanced and wellrounded wine offers generous fruit flavors and subtle oak spices. It is medium to full in body, fairly soft in texture and concentrated enough to drive a lingering, complex finish. This new wine is the least expensive Pinot from Waits Mast, blended from Anderson Valley grapes mixed with grapes from other parts of Mendocino County.
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 large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.