Small Vines 2019 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points:” Seeing 40% stems, the 2019 Pinot Noir is one of the prettier, more ethereal releases, offering an attractive strawberry, rose petal, black tea, and orange blossom-driven style as well as the medium-bodied richness and ripe, present tannins on the palate. Beautifully done, this gorgeous, complex 2019 will benefit from short-term bottle age and keep for a solid decade.”

Robert Parker 93 Points: “The 2019 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast has a pale ruby color and lush red berry fruits—cranberries, crushed cherries—with accents of woodsmoke, tobacco leaves, prosciutto, and dusty earth. Medium-bodied, the palate walks a lovely line of fresh, bright fruits with savory, earthy accents, finely grainy and fresh with a long, uplifting finish.”

Tasting Notes: Medium to full-bodied wine with a deep pomegranate color with an expansive dark cherry nose and a touch of Amaretto.  On the palate, the wine offers a silky texture and sexy dark notes- chocolate and cherry cola. There is a mouthwatering structure and pleasing cohesion between fruit and savory- bright red fruit, cherries on one side, a hint of tea, and amaretto on the other. This gorgeous wine closes with silky tannins and a seemingly limitless finish wine finishes equally lively and complex as it started.  

Winemaker Notes: “Hand harvesting Shoot By shoot from our Estate vineyards. A blend of grapes taken from our vineyards in the Occidental Hills, a ridge above the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and a heavily coastal influenced ridge top near Graton, this Pinot Noir shows a great expression of the true Sonoma Coast. 2019 was both surprising and temperate. It started with a very wet winter and was followed by a cool lengthy, spring. We saw some unseasonably late rain in May which caused some reduced crop yields. Spring morphed into a mild, sunny yet still cool and dry summer. Autumn entered gently, and the harvest was off where we freely selected our pick dates and harvested the vines shoot by shoot- selecting what was perfectly ripe to leave the rest for later. We began on August 28th, harvested most of our vineyards the first couple of weeks in September and the last grapes crossed our sorting table on September 14th. The 2019 wines are richly colored, have pleasing weight and intriguing depth yet an energetic presence that is exciting! We find them beautifully concentrated, with an alluring charm that continues to delight in your glass. “

Vineyard Sources: 49% Baranoff, 26% TBH & 25% Fassler all planted to Calera, Pommard, and Swan clones