Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Like the tannic 2005, the winery's '06 needs time in the cellar. It's a bit hard and closed. But it’s simply humongous in flavor, offering a deep well of blackberry and mulberry flavors and various wild berries with no names. You'll also detect dark chocolate, anise, Asian spices and beef jerky.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Pinot Noir Coastlands Vineyard, which comes from both the new Dijon and California heritage clones, is very impressive. Deep ruby/purple, with notes of black cherries and blackberries, some subtle camphor and crushed rock, medium to full body, and beautiful, fresh acidity and moderate tannins in the finish, this wine could easily evolve past 10 years, a rarity for a 2006 California Pinot Noir.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.