Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most concentrated wine of this group is the 2003 Pinot Noir Coastlands Vineyard. Its extraordinary perfume of crushed rocks, flowers, black raspberries, and sweet cherries is followed by a dense, medium to full-bodied, rich, moderately tannic, long, persistent wine that will be even better with 1-2 more years of bottle age. It should last for 10-15 years.
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Wine & Spirits
Grown at one of the pioneering vineyard sites on the coast near Occidental, this pinot is dark in color and fruit tone. For now, the scent of expensive oak dominates the wine, melding the ripe cherry fruit into rich barrel tones, finishing clean and generous. Given cellar time, this may develop more distinction in the fruit and vineyard character.
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.