Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
This site on the Sonoma Coast has produced a savory 2016 Pinot Noir Precious Mountain Vineyard and it offers loads of mulled red and black fruits, leather, and dried flower aromas and flavors. It's rounded, nicely textured, has a singular character, and a great finish. A decade or more of longevity isn’t out of the question.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Pinot Noir Precious Mountain Vineyard comes from dry-farmed, organic vines, some planted as early as 1971. Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, it opens with blackcurrant and spiced black cherries, dried savory herbs, notes of nutmeg and warm cinnamon stick, perfumed earth and peppery/meaty touches with red berry sparks. The palate is light to medium-bodied and slowly fleshes out in the mouth—this is a more elegant, understated style—with grainy tannins and juicy freshness to lift the long, spicy finish. 318 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a dry-farmed coastal site, this is a grippy, concentrated wine full of powerful tannins. Dried herb, tea, blood orange and pomegranate combine for a force of flavor as the wine broods and develops.
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.