By focusing solely on Pinot Noir from the most prestigious vineyard sites in California and Oregon, and by vinifying each barrel separately by lot, clone, yeast and cooper, we champion individuality of place and intensity of flavor in each wine we produce.
Production: 216 Cases
Release Date: December 2006
Winemakers' Comments
There are several new, “rising star” vineyards in our Pinot Noir portfolio and the Sonatera Vineyard is undoubtedly one of them. Our first release from this cool Sonoma Coast site was in 2003. The 2004 was a huge success garnering much praise including a 91pt. rating from wine writer Robert Parker. The 2005 Sonatera Pinot Noir is once again a star, and certainly one of our favorite wines from the vintage. The overriding factor in the quality and character of the 2005 Sonatera Pinot Noir was the vineyard’s low yields. We averaged only .87 tons of grapes per acre! That is tiny (and not particularly economically viable). These low yields produced a wine with great concentration. And yet, this wine is not all about weight. To make certain of this we were especially careful with the maceration on this wine trying to coax out the proper fruit/tannin balance without going over the top. One of the things that truly benefited us was that we get four different clones from the vineyard; thus providing us with a range of flavors and concentration levels to work with. Despite the tiny production we remain committed to only using the finest barrels in our single vineyard wines. Thus, after a blind tasting, we came up with a blend that used 57% of the available barrels in the final wine. The 2005 Sonatera Pinot Noir is a dense wine with loads of black fruits, hints of earth and spice, and velvet like texture on a long finish. This wine should age very well but is certainly rich and hedonistic enough to pop and drink now.
- Adam & Dianna Lee
92 Points
Wonderful harmony of dark fruits, with ripe black cherry, black berry and blue berry, ending with a peppery note. Highly distinctive, smooth and polished, the flavors grow on you. Impressive youngster. Drink now through 2010. 216 cases produced. —J.L.
 92 Points - It would be easy enough to believe that this dense, full-bodied Pinot was born of grapes grown in the Santa Lucia Highlands given its sense of sheer fruity scale and unstinting ripeness. It is drenched in sweet oak but oozes wonderfully juicy fruit all the way through its considerable length, and it has all the extract it needs to handily buffer the slight bit of heat that comes as the price of its ongoing richness. Even if young, it is accessible and tasty right now, and it will find its best place as a partner to a savory lamb roast.
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