Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 82

YEAR'S BEST US PINOT NOIRS
from three outside growers: KR, Campbell
Ranch and Pratt. It's dominated by oak at
first, but the cherry-scented fruit continues
to develop as the oak fades. The bright concentration and energy of the wine feels surprising after the wine has been open for several days. For the cellar. (450 cases) -J.G.

even as the color is transparent in the glass.
Behind the tannins, there's a tight, cool and
saline pinot with plush black-cherry flavors.
(W&S 2/20) -J.G.
519522

92 | La Crema

92 | Red Car

519751

92 | Balletto

$46

2017 Sonoma Coast 18 Barrel Pinot Noir ^
This is a blend of fruit from three estate
vineyards in the Sebastopol Hills, where the
cool sites produce a wine with clarity and
vibrancy, its rich cherry flavors perked up
by flinty reduction, tight and roseate in the
end. The texture is creamy against the tarry
tannins, and while the lasting impression is
clean, the wine needs some time for its elements to fully integrate. Available to Balletto
wine club members only. (429 cases) -J.G.
519538

92 | Hirsch

$85

2017 Sonoma Coast Reserve Pinot Noir ^
Hirsch's Reserve is a barrel selection from
the oldest blocks on the family's far-coast
estate. The wine's ambition comes across in
the grand-cru scent of the oak, while its provenance is clear in scents of beach rose and
cool ocean air. Tight and austere as a young
wine, this should blossom with several years
in the cellar. (790 cases) -J.G.

92 | Patz & Hall

$48

2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ^ James Hall
blends this wine from 18 vineyards, mostly in
the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley.
He lets the fermentation start slowly, with
ambient yeasts, then finishes it with cultured
yeasts, aging the wine in French oak barrels
(45 percent new) and bottling it unfiltered.
The wine is beefy and youthfully tannic,
82

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

$75

2017 Fort Ross-Seaview Estate Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Red Car's estate is in the northern reaches of Fort Ross-Seaview. Planted
in 2005, it's tucked into the coastal ridges at
1,000 feet, so its vines are often buried in fog
from the Pacific, less than four miles to the
west. Those vines produced an elegant 2017,
delicate and brisk even as its tannins have the
sweetness of finely ripened fruit, anchoring
the wine with some density. Compellingly
drinkable, this is ready for any fresh catch.
(125 cases) -J.G.
517864

91 | Buena Vista

$40

91 | Buena Vista

$50

$85

91 | Keller Estate

$60

91 | Small Vines Wines

$89

2017 Sonoma Coast West Ridge Pinot Noir ^
A cool, coastal wash of flavor, this is blended
from a selection of blocks on a ridge overlooking the Pacific. It's light in weight, with
zesty spice that lasts through the inky blackness of the wine's tannins. Those tannins are
soft, suited to a grilled salmon steak. (490
cases) -J.G.
518255
2017 Petaluma Gap El Coro Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ This pinot noir is saturated with
red-plum richness. You can almost taste the
windy conditions of this ridgetop vineyard-
building thick skins in the grapes and tannins in the wine. Give this a year to settle into
its structure, then serve it with roast duck.
(W&S 12/19; 108 cases) -J.G.
519530
2017 Sonoma Coast MK Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ A powerful young pinot noir with a
lot of cracked-green-peppercorn spice, this
is saline and zesty. It has the feel of thickskinned grapes from a windswept site, the
tannins potently extracted, needing something as fatty as duck rillettes if you open
the wine now. (56 cases) -J.G.

2017 Sonoma Coast Chateau Buena Vista
Pinot Noir ^ Red-cherry brightness gives this
a simple clarity, spicy and warm, with a hint
of mushroom savor adding depth. It's open
and ready to serve with fried chicken. (W&S
10/19; 3,986 cases) -J.G.
519795
2017 Petaluma Gap Geza's Selection Pinot
Noir ^ The winds in the Petaluma Gap are
known to thicken the skins of grapes, and
you might get an impression of chewy blackcherry skins in the tannins of this wine. It's
juicy and rich, a heady pinot with a blackmushroom earthiness. Along with that savor,
its fruit has the sweetness for duck with cherries. (308 cases) -J.G.
519533

91 | Hirsch

518883

$60

2017 Sonoma Coast Sealift Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ This wine's bold, succulent blackcherry flavor has the energy to override its
oak aging, layering that tight fruit ripeness
over sweet touches of caramel and almond.
This is clean and spicy in its flavor detail, its
acidity gentled by supple sweetness even as it
keeps moving the flavors forward. Delicious
with tea-smoked duck. (3,005 cases) -J.G.
519407

91 | Hirsch

$60

2017 Sonoma Coast San Andreas Fault
Pinot Noir ^ Named for the local fault line
that created the jumble of ridgetop soils at
Hirsch, San Andreas is a blend from the varied parcels on the estate. It's a rich, beefy
wine in 2017, its substantial black-cherry flavors needing several days to show their complexity and smoky intensity. Powerful in the
best sense, and in need of decanting if you
open it now, this is built for a steak. (3,740
cases) -J.G.
519536

519276

91 | Williams Selyem

$85

90 | Anthill Farms

$48

2017 Sonoma Coast Coastlands Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Ross Cobb grows this wine for
Williams Selyem at his vineyard in Occidental, and you can taste the marginality of the
climate in the pink-peppercorn spice and
stemmy green savor of the tannins. It's lively
and long, a powerful wine crowded with
youthful dark-fruit flavor and spice, delivering all its energy with coolness. Compressed
and impressive, this is a wine to cellar. -J.G.
517942
2017 Sonoma Coast Hawk Hill Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From the Goldridge hills west of
Sebastopol, close to the town of Freestone,
this vineyard produced a ripe and concentrated 2017. Its black fruit carries plenty of
new oak richness and warm, tannic power.

https://www.ballettovineyards.com/futures-products/?view=products&slug=RedWines https://www.williamsselyem.com/our-wines https://www.patzhall.com/

Wine & Spirits - April 2020

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