2023 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes

• Aromas: Wild berries, cocoa powder and baking spices
• Flavors: Strawberries, vanilla bean and dark chocolate
• Profile: Medium weight with a silky texture, fine tannins and a long finish.

Vineyard

From Lindsay’s Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. A totally pleasing and straightforward Pinot from the appellation. Candied red cherry fruit, dusty minerals, and toasty cedarwood aromatics. Medium-bodied with round, soft, and gentle tannins, an undercurrent of crispy acidity, and loads of cumin, coriander, and brown-sugar aromatics fueling a flashy finish.

Winemaking

• Brix @ Harvest: 23.8°
• Fermentation Details: 5-day cold soak, 6-day primary fermentation, 10-day extended maceration, secondary fermentation in barrel
• Aging: 11 months in French oak
• Clones: 4, 2A, 667, 777
• pH: 3.64
• TA: 6.3 g/L
• Alcohol: 13.7%

Vintage

2023 was an excellent vintage for Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir has seen. A later start in the Spring meant a later finish in the Fall. Warm days and cool nights – near perfect conditions!

• Release date: November 12, 2024

 

James Suckling  93 Points 

• Reviewer Notes:  This wine offers brilliant black fruit flavors, dark spices and a minty, evergreen character that’s intriguing. A medium to full body and moderate tannins give a little punch to the texture, lifting black cherry, black currant and pine flavors that expand on the palate. Well balanced and fresh in mouthfeel.
• Drinking Window:  Drink now or hold

Decanter  93 Points

• Reviewer Notes: From Lindsay’s Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. A totally pleasing and straightforward Pinot from the appellation. Juicy upfront fruit of Bing cherry fruit is framed by a dusty mineral backbone while plenty of succulent toasty cedarwood spices weave a tapestry throughout this supple, succulent red wine, with its satiny tannins, and brown baking spice notes underscoring smoky clove and orange peel through the satisfying finish.
• Drinking Window:  2025-2033