Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a deep magenta/ruby hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Cahill Lane Vineyard is ripe but has wonderful purity throughout and was raised the same way as the other reds, with 24% new French oak. On the nose, it is ripe with toasty spice, spiced plum, black cherries, menthol, and rosemary. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate and expands, with a ripe feel, but it retains good balance and is a decadent wine with a lot to offer over the next 6-8 years.
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Vinous
The 2022 Pinot Noir Cahill Lane Vineyard is laced with succulent dark-toned fruit, tobacco, earthiness, leather, cedar and incense. The Cahill Lane is a bit wild and gamy in 2022, but it retains the understated style of the year.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.