Winemaker Notes
This Pinot Noir is aromatically alluring with cool fruit character and spice undertones. Notes of citrus, sassafras, and cedar shavings are layered into this very complex wine owing to the diversity of vineyards sourced for the Westside Road Neighbors. Plush and round at the entry, the wine gives way to red fruits and citrus peel in the mid-palate and finishes with the signature refined tannin structure and mineral sensation. Stunningly complex, this wine will develop nicely over time but is irresistible today.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of blue fruits and raspberries with some green strawberry and floral undertones. Honeysuckle, too. Full-bodied with firm and tight tannins. Linear and structured. Cooler, tighter. Needs time to soften.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy, ripe and direct, with a big ball of plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors rolling along, supported by a modest structure and backed by lively anise and floral hints through the finish. For fans of the overt style. Drink now through 2025. 2,059 cases made.
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.