About

Pinot Noir from the Carneros region ranks among the finest in California. We know. We’ve been making it, growing it and experimenting with Carneros Pinot for more than 25 years. What we’ve discovered is that if we let the character of Carneros guide our Pinot winemaking effort, there still remains plenty of room for our own particular style to compliment and augment what Mother Nature so generously gives us.

It’s with our Carneros bottling of Pinot Noir where our experience, house style and the essence of our appellation shows most clearly. We work with more than a dozen vineyards located throughout Carneros but with a heavier emphasis on the Napa Valley side of the AVA. Our reverence for the appellation is most obvious by the gentle handling the grapes and wine receive from vineyard to bottle. Gentleness and restraint are critical to making high caliber Pinot Noir that maintains the mark of the vineyard, rather than simply the mark of the producer.

To achieve a style of wine we believe delivers varietal and regional integrity we undertake a careful, methodical exercise in blending. In late winter, after all our lots have completed malolactic fermentation and have been resting in small French oak barrels, we begin the search for our “Carneros” bottling. In tasting through our barreled Pinot Noir we are above all looking for those lots that show a balance of tannin and acid, fruit flavors that while rich, dark-red and complex, are not overblown or leaning toward the burnt jam style of Pinot you sometimes see. Our Carneros bottling delivers distinctive Pinot Noir character in a wine of power, grace and elegance.

Reviews

88 pts.Vintage: 2009
Wine SpectatorSeptember 30, 2011

Complex, detailed and understated, this delivers a trim mix of black cherry, wild berry and mineral notes. Medium-to full-bodied, ending with a touch of cedar and graphite. Drink now through 2016.

89 pts.Vintage: 2008
Burghound.comOctober, 2010

A distinctly earthy and underbrush suffused nose that displays softly spicy somber red berry fruit aromas complements well the fresh, detailed and vibrant flavors that possess good extract that coats the palate on the dusty, clean and dry finish. Lovely and fashioned in an understated style.

88 pts.Vintage: 2007
Burghound.com4th Quarter, 2009

Bottled at 13.5%. An extremely pretty and notably ripe nose for the Carneros region speaks of cherry and menthol aromas that introduce detailed and delicious middle weight flavors that culminate in a dusty and moderately structured finish of good length. There is good balance and this should age well.

88 pts.Vintage: 2006
Burghound.comOctober, 2008

A relatively deeply pitched nose mixes earth and red and blue pinot fruit before giving way to dusty, intense, precise and vibrant flavors that possess reasonably good detail though the backend flavor profile is on the narrow side at present. This is not to say one-dimensional but there isn’t the breadth yet that one would like to see to rise to the next level. I do like the clean and crisp if slightly austere delivery and this will need 3 to 6 years to fully realize its ultimately potential.

89 pts.Vintage: 2003
International Wine CellarJanuary/February, 2006

Good full red. Raspberry, pomegranate, menthol and spicy oak on the nose. Richer, sweeter and more velvety than the Garnet, with deeper flavors of red fruits, minerals and spices. Sound ripe acidity gives this pinot a very pleasing balance. Finishes sweet and long, with lush, fine tannins.

89 pts.Vintage: 2002
Connoisseurs' Guide to California WineOctober, 2004

Sweet oak is the constant companion and sometime challenger to well-ripened cherries in both the aromas and flavors of this nicely filled Pinot Noir, but, in the end, the wine happily claims fruit as its guiding light. It shows a few ragged edges following a smooth and supple entry, but its minor roughness and slightly grippy tannins can be blamed on youth, and each seems sure to be resolved by now.

87 pts.Vintage: 2002
PinotReport Smart BuyMay/June, 2004

Bright red. Cherry, raspberry, gingerbread and caramel on the nose. Initially quite spicy-oaky, but showed sweet, supple flavors of raspberry tart and ginger snaps with aeration. Slightly chunky pinot noir, with good fruit and a bit of finishing toughness.

88 pts.Vintage: 2001
The Wine AdvocateDecember 23, 2003

(This is a) delicious, fruit-forward offering revealing both elegance and flavor intensity...the 2001 Pinot noir Carneros possesses raspberries and cherries, but more tannin, wood, and earth.

The Independent Magazine (UK) — November 4, 2003
Vintage: 2001
Vintage: N/A

Saintsbury's top-notch, sumptuousl fruity Pinot Noir has justifiably become a popular classic. The 2001, one of the best so far, is a perfumed, voluptuous red with juicy red berry fruit flavours and poised spiciness.

87 pts.Vintage: 2001
International Wine CellarMay/June, 2003

Medium red. Bitter cherry, fresh herbs, chocolate and oak spices on the nose. Fresh and fairly intense flavors of tart red berries, bitter cherry and herbs, perked up by some unabsorbed CO2; nicely restrained sweetness. Finishes with light, slighly dry tannins.

89 pts.Vintage: 2001
Connoisseurs' Guide to California WineMay 1, 2003

Layers of lively varietal fruit, tasty oak, complexing nuances of black walnuts, cocoa and creme brulee provide this wine with an impressive start, and its medium-depth, balanced flavors follow suit in fine style. Ripeness brings a momentary flare of heat in the finish, but things are kept on course by the wine's solid fruit. A fine partner to grilled steaks in the nearer term, it should enjoy a few years of improvement yet.

88 pts.Vintage: 2001
PinotReport Smart BuyApril 1, 2003

SMART BUY! "Good, solid Pinot." Medium-deep ruby purple color, slight herbal and spicy aromas; spicy, herbal and erry flavors on palate, it's balanced and has good sturcuture. I like the spice and comlexity here–good, solid Pinot.

87 pts.Vintage: 2000
Wine SpectatorSeptember 15, 2002

Complex, concentrated black cherry and wild berry flavors are well-focused. More richness and intensity than this bottling typically shows. Drink now through 2006.

89 pts.Vintage: 2000
The Wine AdvocateAugust 13, 2002

The successful 2000 Pinot Noir possesses a multidimensional, intense bouquet of jammy sweet cherry fruit intermixed with loamy soil, subtle new oak, apple skin, and spice. Fleshy and medium-bodied, with good underlying but unobtrusive acidity as well as tannin, it is a delicious Pinot for drinking over the next 4-5 years.