Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Offers depth, richness, complexity and length, with tiers of vibrant raspberry, anise and blackberry. Gains depth and traction, ending with gripping tannins that hold the flavors in place. Toasty oak nuances show on the aftertaste. Drink now through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Warmly steeped in black tea and cinnamon-cola, this is a dark purple-hued wine, full bodied and expansive on the palate in red and black berry. A streak of black pepper pulses throughout the wine’s big-boned structure. Earthy and balanced, it will benefit with time, decanted or cellared through 2020. Cellar Selection
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.