Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Forward and delicious, a vibrant wine that’s fully drinkable now for the richness of fruit. Shows ripe waves of black and red cherries, raspberries, cola, chocolate and crème brûlée, leading to a long, sweetly spicy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Pinot Noir Bucher Vineyard offers up aromas of wild strawberries and cherries intermixed with a steely, crushed rock-like flintiness. With lots of minerality, medium to full body, beautiful fruit purity, and an elegant, layered mouthfeel, it is not a big Pinot, but a stylish example that should be at its best in several years, and age nicely for 10-12.
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.