Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Bright in both color and flavor, this is a bold and juicy, red-fruited pinot noir. Savory notes of fresh porcini and foresty, root-like scents add complexity to the finish. Layered and fine, this is accessible now for a roast and will benefit from bottle age.
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Wine Spectator
This spicy Pinot delivers black cherry, plum and raspberry notes. This is medium- to full-bodied, and delicate, with silky tannins and a long, pure finish that's quite attractive. Drink now through 2018. 1,186 cases made.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
This one is nominally a little lower in alcohol than its mates above, but it does not lack for richness and concentration in its aromas where ripe red cherry and raspberry fruit join with an attractive overly of crème brûlée oak. Supple on the palate and somewhat round in its early palatal feel, this one takes a half step back in volume and invites nearer term drinking. It can grow with a few years in bottle but does not demand it.
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.