Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard opens with aromas of blueberry, blackberry and wildflowers and reveals undertones of porcini mushrooms, tea leaves and iron as it spends time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate features generous, layered flavors structured by powdery tannins and seamless acidity, and it has a long, iron-laced finish.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A unique appellation placed in between the warm, Sonoma County Alexander Valley and the cooler Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, the Yorkville Highlands’ gravel soils are ideal for Bordeaux varieties and other full-bodied reds.