Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sourced from two blocks as well (blocks 3 and block 11) and from more sandstone soils in the vineyard (which is the mother rock of the site), the 2016 Pinot Noir Mother Rock saw 20% stems and the same 15 months in 67% new French oak. With a deep, incredibly floral character as well as classic jammy raspberries, toasted bread, and spice aromatics, this beauty is more full-bodied and powerful, with building tannin, obvious oak, and a great finish. Young and unevolved, hide bottle for at least 2-3 years.
Rating: 96+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From two co-fermented blocks, the medium ruby-purple colored 2016 Pinot Noir Mother Rock leaps from the glass with chocolate-covered cherries, peppermint, violets and black soil notes plus nuances of lilacs, Sichuan pepper, garrigue and truffles. Medium-bodied, the perfumed black cherries fill the palate, supported by plush tannins and great freshness, finishing with some baking spice notes coming through.
Rating: 94+
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.”
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.