The Hilt Vanguard Pinot Noir 2013 I recently took a trip to CA to visit my daughter to celebrate her birthday and wanted to taste some great wines I cannot readily get back east. We also visited Jonata Winery in Santa Barbara, sister winery to The Hilt. The Hilt makes pinot noir and chardonnay from California’s well–known coastal winegrowing regions of Santa Barbara County’s Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley AVA’s. Their wine growing philosophy employs practices that enable grapes to show full transparency of site, which is key to The Hilt’s philosophy. Within this framework, The Hilt ferments two distinct styles of wine; The Old Guard and The…
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Robert Stemmler Carneros Pinot Noir 2013 After making wine in his native Germany, Robert arrived in Napa Valley in 1961, working with the Mondavi brothers at Charles Krug Winery, then becoming winemaker at Sonoma County’s historic Simi Winery. In 1976, he opened his eponymous winery, and in 1982 released his first Pinot Noir to critical acclaim. Meanwhile, in 1981, Anne Moller-Racke arrived from Germany to work at the family’s Buena Vista Winery. They soon became friends. After promoting Pinot Noir nationwide, Robert retired in 1989, and the Racke family purchased his label. When Anne launched an “ultimate Pinot Noir project” at The Donum Estate in 2001, Stemmler wines became Donum’s…
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Au Bon Climat Nielson Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008 I took a recent trip out to CA, and in particular to taste some of the wines in Santa Barbara County. My next several posts will be some notes from my trip. My first stop was Au Bon Climat. Jim Clendenen, the “Mind Behind” Au Bon Climat since 1982, creates internationally acclaimed Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Jim has other projects of passion that allow him to make artisan, small lots of distinctive wines from a wider spectrum of grape varietals under different brands. Jim Clendenen was born in Akron, Ohio in the 1950s. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara,…
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Lynmar Estate Quail Hill Vineyard RRV Pinot Noir 2012 Lynn Fritz first purchased Quail Hill Ranch and Vineyards in 1980, drawn to the maritime climate and the authenticity of the rolling Russian River vineyards. The property has some of the oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines planted in the Russian River Valley. The grapes from these early vines were bought by Tony Soter and Merry Edwards to make wines considered to be some of the best in the Russian River Valley. Lynmar began a small winemaking activity in the early 1990s and produced small amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which were extremely well received. Over the next 35 years,…
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ZD Pinot Noir Carneros 2013 In 1969, aerospace engineers Norman DeLeuze and Gino Zepponi, along with their families, turned their entrepreneurial enthusiasm toward winemaking. These were the early days of California’s wine industry, and they were among Napa Valley’s adventurous winemaking pioneers. Their founding concept was to produce world class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reminiscent of France’s renowned Burgundy wines. They achieved this endeavor by sourcing from the cool Carneros regions of Napa and Sonoma. The ZD Wines brand highlights the initials of the founding partners’ last names, but it also symbolizes the term Zero Defects, an acronym for the quality control program Norman and Gino worked under while designing rockets…
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Craggy Range 2011 Pinot Noir Craggy Range is a family owned winery established in 1997 and situated in the shadow of the spectacular Te Mata Peak in the premium wine growing area of Hawke’s Bay New Zealand. Craggy Range produces a collection of iconic wines from multiple regions in New Zealand. Owner Terry Peabody and his family pursued the single vineyard approach to winemaking, planting on green fields and bare land ensuring a focus on quality from the very beginning. Ruby with a touch of purple on the edges and aromas of black and red berry fruits with floral spice. On the palate black cherry and raspberry flavors with fine…
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Cristom Pinot Noir 2013 Eileen Vineyard The development of Cristom Vineyards is the result of a twenty-plus-year collaboration between an engineer, a winemaker and a farmer – who are, first and foremost, stewards of the land. Founder Paul Gerrie hired Cristom’s winemaker Steve Doerner and Vineyard Manager Mark Feltz in 1992. Together at the winery since day one, they have consistently produced masterful and expressive Pinot Noirs. The four estate Pinot Noir vineyards – Eileen, Jessie, Louise and Marjorie – are named for Gerrie family matriarchs. Each single vineyard has its own natural variances in soil, elevation and exposition, and Steve strives to craft wines that are representative of both…
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Taittinger Nocturne Champagne When Pierre Taittinger first discovered the Champagne region, he was a young liaison officer during the first World War. It was thanks to his passion for wine and gastronomy that he returned several years later and, with his brother-in-law, invested all his energy into the development of a burgeoning champagne business. Since 1932 Champagne Taittinger has grown and taken its place among the great Champagne houses, commanding a bold innovative style particularly influenced by Chardonnay. Having bought back the family business in 2006, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger has surrounded himself with a team that is both young and bound together by a spirit of attainment and permanence. His daughter…
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Patz & Hall 2013 Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir Patz & Hall was founded in 1988 by four individuals; Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses and Heather Patz. Together, they have turned Patz & Hall into one of California’s premier wineries, with a renowned portfolio of single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. The seeds for Patz & Hall were planted in the 1980s when assistant winemaker James Hall and national sales manager Donald Patz struck up a close friendship while working together at Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. The two discovered a mutual enthusiasm for a rich and compelling style of wine made by applying traditional winemaking techniques to fruit from…
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Penner-Ash 2012 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir Penner-Ash Wine Cellars embodies the spirit and passion of a small producer focusing on Pinot Noir in the northern Willamette Valley, Oregon. After working for some of Napa’s premier wineries and Rex Hill Vineyards in Oregon, winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash and her husband, Ron, started Penner-Ash Wine Cellars in 1998. In the winery, the focus is on small-lot indigenous yeast fermentation with extended cold soaks to extract a rich, fruit-focused, textured mouth feel. Each lot is treated individually and depending on the outcome, either blended into their reserve quality Willamette Valley Pinot Noir or bottled separately as a vineyard designate. The Penner-Ash Winery was completed in…