Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 84

YEAR'S BEST PINOT NOIRS
93 | Joseph Jewell

$55

2014 Russian River Valley Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This classic Russian River
Valley pinot noir comes from a vineyard in
the Green Valley, just north of Sebastopol,
where Brice Cutrer Jones converted an apple
orchard to pinot noir vines. Dry farmed on
Gold Ridge soil, it's now the home vineyard
for his Emeritus wines, and the source for
this classic Russian River Valley pinot noir.
Generous from the moment it's first poured,
with a brash gaminess to its tannins, it develops clarity as it opens with air. Silky and bold,
with flavors of ripe cherries and tart cranberries, this would be delicious with spicy lamb
sausages. (W&S 2/18; 75 cases)
508097

93 | Lioco

$45

2015 Anderson Valley La Selva Pinot Noir ^
In 2015, the Lioco team focused their Anderson Valley appellation wine more squarely on
the cool Deep End of the valley, dropping a
mid-valley vineyard and basing the blend
around the Romani and Wentzel vineyards,
which are heavily influenced by coastal
influx. (Some Cerise fruit, from a windy hillside vineyard above Booneville, also made
the blend.) This is a fragrant, delightful
Anderson Valley pinot noir, with racy darkcherry fruit and coniferous tang, sunny, silky,
earthen and irresistibly juicy. (W&S 10/17;
490 cases) -L.S.
508093

93 | Lioco

facing hillside, heavily influenced by Pacific
fog. Gavin Chanin's pinot from the site feels
completely saturated in its texture, while the
tightness of the structure focuses on earthy
tannins and a meaty note as umami as porky
ramen broth. It opens to reveal a juicy red flavor, like the blush on the skin of a pear or the
pink of a cranberry. Subtle and refined, it's
a wine for pork roasted with apples. (W&S
2/18; 531 cases)
509106

93 | Montemar

$52

2015 Anderson Valley Cerise Pinot Noir ^
This wine's mineral grip is a bit unusual for
Anderson Valley pinot, but then Cerise is an
unusual vineyard: a rocky, windswept ridge
high above Booneville and the more sheltered vineyards in the valley. The fruit is dark,
with an almost syrah-like peppercorn note,
but it has delicacy as well-a deep rose-petal
perfume that lasts. Leave it in the cellar for
a few years before drinking it. (W&S 10/17;
350 cases) -L.S.

508862

93 | Mount Eden

509349

$50

2015 Sta. Rita Hills La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ La Rinconada is a west84

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2018

$62

2014 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ^
Jeffrey Patterson is committed to dry farming
his vines, and continued through this third
year of drought, when his vineyard received
a total of 14 inches of rain for the season. He
sustained his vines by limiting their crop, and
decided to pick those concentrated grapes
starting on August 4th, the earliest harvest
in the estate's history. Yet despite the extremity of the season, the wine feels gracious and
refined. It has the cool feel of the air in a
coastal forest, mossy and piney, lasting on
an earthy savor. The texture is firm and juicy,
while the wine isn't overtly fruity. This should
be a fascinating vintage of Mount Eden to
watch as it develops over the next decade.
(W&S 12/17; 756 cases)
508897

93 | Radio-Coteau

$68

93 | Red Car

$45

93 | Red Car

$68

93 | Sojourn

$39

2014 Sonoma Coast Dierke Pinot Noir ^
From a small, organically farmed vineyard
tucked into the hills west of Sebastopol, this
is a spicy, vibrant coastal pinot with a cool,
fog-driven aroma and texture to match-
silky, yet firm and earthen. It's full of flavor
and feels pretty effortless, ready to drink with
roast duck or settle in for a five-year nap in
the cellar. (W&S 8/17; 258 cases) -L.S.
450080
2014 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ^ Blended
from cool vineyards like Hagan, Platt and
Red Car's own hypercoastal estate, Carroll Kemp's 2014 appellation wine is a bit
shy right now but crunchy and completely
refreshing, presenting trim, breezy strawberry and herb flavors over a subtle sandalwood imprint of oak. It needs decanting or
a few years in the cellar to allow the fruit to
expand around its clean, mineral intensity.
(W&S 10/17) -L.S.
450079

$70

2014 Sonoma Coast Doc's Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This comes from a hillside
right at the fog line, just four miles from the
Pacific; it focuses on a parcel planted to the
old Swan clone. You can feel the coastal cool
the minute you smell it, the scent like wind
blowing over a field of sage and lavender. The
flavors are as transparent as its light, bright
red color would suggest-vibrant and foresty, with the clean, mouthwatering snap
of fresh cranberries. (In fact, this was one of
the six pinot noirs that helped Team West
Sonoma Coast win W&S's 2017 Sommelier
Scavenger Hunt.) (W&S 10/17) -L.S.
509724

2015 Sonoma Coast Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ The team at Patz & Hall
has been bottling a Gap's Crown Pinot Noir
since 2007, soon after the vines, planted in
2002, began to bear fruit, and well before

2015 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ^ Erich
Bradley blends this wine from four vineyards: Gap's Crown, San Giacomo, Rodgers
Creek and Walala. Its broad, rich flavors are

93 | Patz & Hall
93 | Lutum

$48

2012 Sta. Rita Hills Bentrock Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Bright and spicy, this wine grows
on a 100-acre hillside vineyard at the western
edge of the Sta. Rita Hills. You can feel the
coast in the freshness of the flavors, opening up to raspberry and cracked green peppercorn. There's also an underlying salinity,
a kelp-like savor, that places the forest and
moss notes in a coastal zip code. It's a lively,
mouthwatering pinot noir to serve with duck
rillettes, or a salad of watercress and duck
confit. (W&S 12/17; 144 cases)

Bill Price purchased the vineyard in 2013.
Located in the wind-and-fog corridor of the
Petaluma Gap, this vineyard rises up on a
hillside heading toward Sonoma Mountain.
Patz & Hall works with two blocks, where
the soil is clay mixed with gravel and volcanic rock. Between the barrage of wind and
the heavy clay, the wine presents itself with
deep-set tannins, and though it's challenging to approach when first opened, it's clear
that the dark red fruit and earthy intensity
has plenty of stamina to sort itself out. With
a day of air, the clarity of the fruit matches
the energy of the tannins, predicting a long
life ahead. (W&S 12/17; 900 cases)
450176

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018