The BEST of SONOMA Pinot Noir - Master of Wine drinks Pinot Noir Wines from California

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David Hirsch on I'll drink to That:

I have used this glass in this Video: RIEDEL Performance Pinot Noir.
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:

2019 Red Car Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir Fort Ross-Seaview AVA - 75 US$
2016 Hirsch San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast AVA – 75 US$
2019 Williams Selyem Rochioli Riverblock Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley AVA - 200 US$
2018 Schug Carneros Estate Pinot Noir Estate Grown Carneros AVA – 50 US$

96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

Pinot Noir is slowly conquering the world and in California, it has gained ground over the last decades. It was the fifth most widely planted variety in 2007 and now it is the third most important variety – having almost doubled in vineyard size.
There was a Pinot Boom over the last two decades and many agree that it all started because of the movie Sideways … which is still strange to me…
Pinot is mainly planted in the cooler regions along the coast and this is where Sonoma comes into play … Sonoma County covers the area north of San Francisco. It is the cool climate neighbor of Napa Valley. While the North of Sonoma can get pretty warm too and is home to Cabernet and Zinfandel, the South produces some of the best Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays in the state.
Why is the South Warmer than the North? You might wonder… Well, it is all about the influence of the Pacific.
The Pacific brings cold water from the north pole down to the shores of the Golden State. In most of Sonoma County the Mountain ranges running from North to South stop the cold winds from the sea but to the south, near the city of Petaluma there is a gap – the Petaluma gap.
Through that gap, wind flows into the region and cools it down significantly. The cold air goes up the valleys and in the north, the influence is not that pronounced any more. Pretty much exactly half of the 23.600 Hectares are planted to Chardonnay and Pinot but I will focus on the velvety kind or queen of the region: PN. So let's dive into the wines, the regions, the terroirs, the people …

[Synday]

Konstantin, the type of guy to passionately explain he likes to sit in exactly that one chair at his favourite café, because of how the German North Sea breeze is perfectly regulating the temperature in that exact geographical spot

[michaelmeier]

My favorite Pinot noirs are from Failla from the Hirsch Vineyard or Occidental Ridge. Beautiful Pinots.

[cchoukalable]

Literally in Sonoma right now with friends drinking Pinot. You nailed some great ones, but we loved Occidental and Hartford, as well. Great show!

[bkppeters]

Red Car is my favorite for 15 years! Excellent choices and I will be trying your recommendations. Thank you.

[ryanmgkim]

hirsch vineyards is one of my favorite pinot noir producers of all time. the san andreas fault is just amazing

[msderay]

Answer of The Day: My spouse and I have enjoyed Merry Edwards wines. Mostly Pinot Noir, Merry’s wines are paragons of the style. Merry has since sold the winery to Roederer, but the new winemaker had spent several years working under Merry’s guidance, and the product has not been compromised since the ownership change. Related, we got married in 2018, and have gotten a case of 2018 Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot, which has aged and morphed gracefully every year we open one.

[greggbull]

My wife and I have been visiting the Napa and Sonoma regions since the 1990’s.
A real hidden gem as far as Pinot Noirs goes is from Merry Edwards, she make some very interesting, complex wines well worth trying.
Great video and thanks for the tasting notes 🍷

[readthevizuals]

Damn, so much good pinot in that area!
Benovia's Pinots are stellar
Marry Edwards Pinots are so lovely
and
Gary Farrell blows me away every time!

Thanks for your videos, love your channel.

[loriseidmeyer]

My favorite Sonoma PN producer is Hartford. Martinelli is very good as well. I just recently went to Merry Edwards and was impressed with their offerings.

[CharlieBrown]

You need to do this with Oregon Pinot! Specifically willamette valley. I am so blessed to live here and we are finally getting the recognition we deserve.

[ericrichards]

Oh man… Back in my wine rep days I had a really great book of California Pinot noirs. I sold the first bottles of Fort Ross winery to my market, and I recall thinking this was a really special winery. I had DeLoach in my bag, and their RR wines were always special. I had Etude and their Grace Benoist ranch wine was/is pretty amazing too. I had Clos Du Val, Spring Mountain Winery PN(super rare), Fantesca, and Macrostie. I am sure I am I forgetting a few. Great video!

[mcnostp]

You should try this exercise again with Kosta Browne, Littorai, and Merry Edwards.

[mitch_l]

As usual, great video! Kudos to you, Konstantin, for not being a Burgundy snob, like most of European sommeliers I've run into. CA pinot noir definitely has its place in the world of fine wines.

[murataburanasiri]

Sonoma is my backyard. There are a lot of world class quality Pinot Noir from the area. They are very different Pinot from other regions. You explain Pinot from Sonoma and geography precisely. Keep up the good work. Stay thirsty!!

[BigBobDookie]

I am so happy to hear you loved the Rochioli River Block. I am double glad that I bought some of the 2019 on release at a great price!

[AlejandroPDX]

Haven’t had Pinot from Sonoma yet so this video came in handy!

[andreelux]

Thank you Sir. I always enjoy your analysis and insight.

[ghettobougieahjoomab]

Literally WS Rochioli has been the most memorable PN I've ever had. It filled our kitchen with Beautiful aromas within seconds of uncorking.
Red Car has great characteristics as I remember.

[xysoniaable]

I would highly recommend Littorai and Rochioli! Very different styles, but really the pinnacle of Sonoma.

[Strfe]

Excellent and informative video! I love the use of maps and context provided!