Pinot Noir

Coming from the northern part of California, in Mendocino County, the 2018 Pinot Noir Docker Hill Vineyard has a beautifully savory, complex, medium to full-bodied style offering ample framboise and darker cherry fruits, building, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and terrific, savory herb, earth, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. It's a brilliant wine in every sense.- Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"From a valley floor site in the Sta. Rita Hills and aged in just under 30% new French oak, the 2018 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard offers a classic Burgundian nose of ripe cherries, sappy herbs, forest floor, and loamy soil. It's another classic Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir delivering lots of salinity, medium to full body, ripe tannins, and a wonderful sense of purity and elegance. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, August 2021

"From two vineyard sites just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, this wine is juicy in cranberry and pomegranate. Lifted accents of white pepper, orange peel and rose add complexity and nuance to the robust frame " - Virginie Boone, Wine Enthusiast, July 2021

"The 2018 Pinot Noir Truly Rita comes all from the Dierberg-Drum Canyon Vineyard and was aged in just 14% new French oak.  Its deeper ruby hue is followed by a richer, medium to full-bodied, stunning Pinot Noir that offers ample black raspberry and redcurrants fruit as well as forest floor, black tea, sappy flowers, and a kiss of salty, mineral-like nuances on the palate.  I love this and it's balanced, brings ample texture, and has a good spine of acidity as well as a great finish." Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, August 2021

"Coming from the Anderson Valley, the 2018 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters has textbook savory, herbal, mineral style as well as wonderful darker cherry and exotic blueberry fruits, medium to full body, loads of floral and violet nuances, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's up-front and fruit-forward, yet it has plenty of tannins as well as remarkable purity and freshness. Drink this singular Pinot Noir over the coming 7-8 years." - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"Coming from Carneros, the 2018 Pinot Noir Sevens Bench Vineyard has a spicy, black cherry, gamey style that offers medium to full-bodied richness, a round, beautifully textured mouthfeel, supple tannins, and outstanding length. It's already complex and hard to resist, yet it firms up nicely with time in the glass, and I suspect it has a solid 8-10 years of longevity ahead of it." - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July, 2021

"The 2018 Pinot Noir Warrior Princess was aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 30% new. Medium ruby-purple colored, it springs from the glass with bold expressions of red currant jelly, pomegranate, rhubarb and wild thyme followed by hints of lavender, underbrush and tobacco leaf. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is tight-knit and intense, featuring loads of mineral and earth layers with a firm, grainy frame and long, energetic finish."- Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, January/February 2021

"Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2017 Pinot Noir Muldune Trail reveals gregarious notions of raspberry tart, Morello cherries, wild blueberries, and lilacs plus nuances of cracked black pepper, baking spices, and root beer.  Medium-bodied, the palate delivers impressive elegance and energy with loads of restrained red fruit and earthy nuances, finishing long and plushly textured."  - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, February 2020

"Coming from a region just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the 2018 Pinot Noir Marin County should be a good value.  Offering cool climate spice, sappy herbs, and forest nuances, medium body, supple cherry, and strawberry fruits, and background oak, it's one textured, undeniably delicious Pinot Noir to drink over the coming 4-5 years " - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"The 2018 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard comes from a site not far from the Pacific Ocean, in the Sonoma Coast AVA, and it's one of the bigger, richer wines in the lineup in 2018. Deeper ruby-hued, with a stunning nose of ripe mulberries, Bing cherries, candied strawberries, spring flowers, and orange blossom, this is a spicy, medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated Pinot Noir. Despite being from a cooler vineyard, it brings plenty of richness and sexy fruit, with a certain exotic character. I've always loved this cuvée (although I've always thought the Chardonnay was slightly more successful), but this might be the finest vintage I've tasted to date. Count me impressed. It's going to have 10-15 years of prime drinking. It's one of the finest Pinot Noirs in this report." - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"The 2018 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block comes from a cooler section of the Russian River Valley (it comes from a small block in the Arrendell Vineyard) and it shows, with the wine offering a darker, more herbal, sappy style in its black cherry and mulberry fruits as well as candied violet, spice, and spring flower-like aromas and flavors. As with all these 2018s from Hartford Court, the palate is spot on, and it has incredible purity of fruit, flawless tannins, and a great, great finish.."  Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"Flowery incense, sappy herbs, and sweet earth all define the bouquet on the 2018 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block, and this beautiful, layered, medium to full-bodied Russian River Valley Pinot has loads of framboise and darker berry fruits, subtle spicy oak, flawless balance, and a great finish. It's another incredible wine from this estate readers will absolutely love."  - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021

"The 2017 Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard comes from a vineyard located on a hillside in Green Valley, south of the town of Forestville (which gets a lot of fog, hence the name), and was brought up in 47% new French oak. It shows its cooler region nicely yet still has plenty of richness and depth, offering spiced cherry and berry fruits as well as autumn leaves, spice, and dried herb aromas and flavors. Silky, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully balanced, It's a complete, thoroughly satisfying Pinot Noir that has the capacity to evolve positively for a solid 7-8 years." - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, May 2020

"The 2018 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard was aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 44% new. Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, it needs coaxing to reveal notes of crushed stones, tilled earth, fallen leaves, and unsmoked cigars with a core of Bing cherries, raspberries, and red currants, plus a waft of dried Provence herbs. Medium-bodied, elegant, and with fantastic finesse, the palate is silky and refreshing, finishing long and earthy" - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, January 2021

"Coming from the Sonoma Coast, the 2017 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard nevertheless seems to have a touch of Russian River-like opulence and power, showing loads of mulberry and cranberry fruit as well as notes of scorched earth, graphite, licorice, and damp forest floor. Rich, concentrated, and medium to full-bodied, it shows the more focused, backward, chiseled style of the vintage yet is far from austere or angular. The cellar will be your friend on this one, and a solid 2-3 years of bottle age are warranted. Nevertheless, it's packed with potential." - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, May 2020