Winemaker Notes
Often one to play coy, The Traveler will continue to reveal itself over time as a wine of complete power and finesse. The 2017 has notes of forest floor, violets, ripe cranberry and black truffle. On the palate it is rich, yet also light in its elegance. A juicy wine upon entry, the laser-focused structure allows the flavors and aromas to evolve on the palate. Notes of raspberry and dried cranberry lead into fine dark chocolate with an underlying note of minerality. A complete Pinot Noir in every expression, this wine will continue to evolve in the bottle, as well as in the glass.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a suitcase clone, the 2017 Pinot Noir The Traveler was all destemmed and brought up in 60% new oak. It offers more candied cherries, candied violets, earth, smoked earth, and forest floor as well as a distinct salty minerality. Deep, rich, and medium to full-bodied, it fleshes out nicely in the glass, with a terrific mid-palate and a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir The Traveler comes from a single suitcase clone of unknown origin grown on the property. Fruit was entirely destemmed. It's pale to medium ruby-purple in color and takes its time to give aromatics of granite dust, fresh violet, blueberry, wild blackberries, dusty earth, tobacco leaf and Earl Grey tea, plus a vein of amaro and spice and hints of juicy red pomegranate. It's light to medium-bodied and absolutely lovely! Loads of floral perfume, ripe fruits, spices and earthy accents dance in the mouth, finely framed and so, so fresh, calling you in for another sip on the very long, layered finish. This is fantastic!
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.