Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Light scents of cherry and red apple meld with a saline character, like sea wrack on the beach in Jenner. The flavors contrast sweetness and freshness with a cool cranberry tone. Serve it with salt cod brandade.
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Wine Enthusiast
Right off the bat you can taste the acidity in this wine, which is brighter and crisper than, say, the winery’s Russian River Pinot. The tartness lifts the black cherry, cherry and raspberry flavors, heightening their impact through the long, spicy finish. Still, it’s a wine for early drinking.
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Wine Spectator
Trim, compact and delicate, with detailed cherry, mineral, sage, herb and plum flavors shaded by a hint of toasty oak on the finish. Drink now through 2010.
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.