Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Baked bread, pine forest and strawberry rise out of the glass in this relatively light yet complex and layered wine, spicy in cinnamon and black tea. It shows the powerful grace of good winemaking, showcasing the appellation's beauty and brawn from a warm, even year.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby in color, the 2014 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley has notes of cranberries and red currants with underlying suggestions of rose hips, cracked black pepper and dusty earth. Medium-bodied and solidly structured, this mouth-filling beauty is already open for business with bags of freshness and a long, perfumed finish.
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.