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Blood oranges, tart cranberries, oak, cinnamon, black cherries, camphor, and fresh green herbs… this red is packing a lot of complexity and elegance on the nose. In the mouth, it shows impressive, savory meatiness, while never once losing its edgy freshness. Aged 15 months on the lees (with 40% new French oak), with just 578 cases made. – J.R.

This 100% Pinot Noir, a suitcase clone known as the “Cruz Especial Selection,” hails from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast. Aged eleven months in 33% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Compared with the regular Pinot Hill bottling, this Cruz Selection shows a softer, more brown-spiced character, fragrant with wild herbs—sage and dried wild fennel in particular. The fruit leans red-toned, the acidity a touch sharper, and the finish trails off crisp, clean, and bone dry. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

This 100% Pinot Noir from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast blends six clones—115, Hyde, Cruz, 667, Elite, and Pommard. Aged eleven months in 41% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is bold, tart, and structured, bursting with cherry fruit, cherry wood, incense, tangerine zest, and grapefruit pith. While the bouquet is generous and expressive, the palate is more lively and zesty, focused, and linear—a vibrant, food-friendly Pinot Noir. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

From Durell Vineyard. The sandhill at the top of this site isn’t sand at all but diatomaceous earth, and Gaffner works with three clones planted there: Wente, See, and Rued. The nose is intensely mineral, with a chalky edge, salted Marcona almonds, flinty notes, and well-measured toasty oak spice. The palate has real depth and flavor, showing apricot, white peach, pear, and yellow apple, all carried by a saline-toned minerality. A touch of lemon-cream lift comes through on the finish, a hallmark of Gaffner’s long, slow, cool fermentation with malolactic completing later.
From Durell, Sangiacomo’s Green Acres, and Catarina, where they work with a unique Chardonnay selection that reminds Jeff Gaffner of Riesling. The wine is barrel-fermented long and cool, with malolactic held back until the following spring; he stirs the lees through winter before allowing ML to finish naturally. The result is a layered, deeply textural Chardonnay with a complex, nuanced oak profile and impressive acid freshness. Extremely ripe quince, candied ginger, and a touch of saline drive the finish. Just dynamite.
Swan, 777, 415 and 828 clones are all co-fermented here, and it’s off to the races. Ferrington has two distinct sections: an older, virus-affected block, and newer plantings of Pommard and 828. The wine shows more mid-palate weight and generosity, with dark berry fruit, fig notes, black tea and loamy earth. A building richness is neatly framed by a cool freshness from the firm acid backbone, with lingering brown baking spices on the finish. Energetic, layered and delicious.

Fighting Brothers indicates a multi-vineyard blend; in this case it’s Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Roberts Road. Gaffner’s Pinot Noir approach is consistent across sites: he starts with a cold soak and works in pumpovers and punchdowns before alcohol rises, as he believes ABV acts as a solvent. Early extraction builds color, tannin, and esters, and once fermentation is underway he backs off. After fermentation and cold stabilization, the wine goes to barrel for about 16 months with 40% new French oak. The method precipitates out harsher tannins and preserves the finer elements, resulting in wonderfully precise, soft, velvety tannins that frame ripe dark-berry fruit. A cool, refreshing edge runs through the wine, along with underbrush nuances and warm baking spices on a lengthy finish.

Sourced from two sections of Gap’s Crown—one higher on the slope and one lower in elevation. Incredibly floral and bright, with red berry fruit, rich baking spices and cherry pie notes. Medium-bodied on the palate yet delivering impressive depth of flavor, with a saline-acid brightness that feels both enticing and sumptuous. Totally captivating—you can’t help but finish the entire bottle in one sitting.

Gorgeously woody and deeply sumptuous on the palate. Creamy in texture yet bolstered by crisp apple-skin tannins, with an expressive salinity running through the core. Layers of sumptuous brown spices unfold alongside graham cracker crust on the finish.

Such an alluring nose of anise, fennel, and lemon cream and French pastry, apricot jam and flinty minerals, all coming together on the palate framed by richer tropical notes of grilled pineapple, and white peach, with butterscotch cream and lemon zest, supported by zingy acid tension and a toasty oak finish. This Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Ganer is one of the more richer styles of Chardonnay he produces, and if you love that style this is your bag baby.
This is crafted by Bob Cabral. Super-fragrant from the outset, with rose petal and rose stem notes, dark cherry, and dark slate, lifted by white pepper spice and fresh redwood forest nuances. Black tea notes support the super-dark, juicy, ripe fruit and macerated cherry character. Hints of tangerine peel and crushed cocoa nibs add detail, all carried by a velvety texture and impressive length.

This is a light, bright, zippy Chardonnay, boasting Sonoma Coast sea-spray minerality, subtle lemon and lime citrus, white flowers, and unsalted, unroasted almonds with a touch of almond-skin grip. There’s plenty of tension to carry this medium-bodied white well into the night or through a long meal, while a hint of sea grass and vanilla rounds it all out.
Anne Moller-Racke was the vineyard manager at Chateau Buena Vista from the early 1980s until 2001, when she helped establish Donum and remained there until 2019. During that time, she planted the Anne Katherina Vineyard in Carneros and, in 2013, began producing wine under her own label, Blue Farm. Total production is around 2,500 cases. The Sonoma Coast bottling is a blend of Anne’s vineyard sources and is poured mainly by the glass in local restaurants. She self-distributes in California. Once the fruit arrives at the winery, it’s sorted, given a light saignée, then cold-soaked for 3–5 days. As the must warms, fermentation kicks off in tank at cool temperatures for up to 19 days. Once dry, it’s pressed, and only the free run is used. The wine is aged in one-third new French oak for up to 17 months. This Pinot Noir is a bit coiled and very youthful, showing crunchy red berry fruit, chalky minerality, and a real earthiness—perhaps from the Wadenswil clone. Black tea–like tannins frame the palate as darker fruit emerges on the mid-palate and finish. There’s plenty of tension and freshness throughout.

Fresh and zesty, with a touch of grape-skin tannin and an intriguing, heady mix of white Rainier cherry, apricot and white peach, accented by subtle almond undertones. There’s also a gentle pop of tarragon or wild fennel and a super-salty core of crunchy orchard fruit and dried white-floral notes. Exotic, enticing and genuinely fun to drink. I’d pair this with a selection of farmers’ market hard cheeses and charcuterie.
A dark and brooding Pinot with intense boysenberry, plum, and black raspberry fruits. Hints of leather, turned earth, and tobacco and tea leaves join the fray on the wonderful nose. It’s silky and substantial, but clearly has a mineral edge (and great structure) under all of that ripe palate fruitiness. – J.R.

Stoetz Ridge Vineyard faces east and is planted entirely to Clone 667. It’s a low-yielding site, and the resulting wine is quite pretty yet carries good heft and grip. There’s an old redwood-grove character here, with red cherry fruit and an elegance and prettiness that define the style. Good length and an easy quaffer. All night-picked with 5–20% whole cluster, given a two-day settle, then treated with a small sulfur adjustment before native-yeast fermentation. Bâtonnage begins with more frequent stirring and gradually tapers off, after which the wine is racked into roughly 35–45% new French oak for 15 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

A medium-bodied, plump, and juicy Pinot Noir with a velvety texture, sourced from four vineyards: Terra de Promissio, Cut Root, Bucher, and Placida. The inclusion of 15% whole clusters adds a touch of grip, though the tannins are well-integrated and refined. Aged 11 months in 30% new French oak, the wine shows layered baking spice character—clove, nutmeg, and a touch of dusty minerality on the finish. Harmonious and inviting, it’s an effortlessly appealing Pinot Noir that’s all too easy to drink. Debra Mathay purchased Dutcher Crossing in 2007, and it now produces more than thirty wines from Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties, farming 75 acres of estate vineyards.

This 100% Pinot Noir is sourced from a collection of exceptional Sonoma vineyards, including Gap’s Crown, Lancel Creek, Terra de Promissio, and Durell. Aged for 10 months in 35% new French oak, the 2023 vintage marks the inaugural release of this wine—and what a debut it is. A Pinot Noir fireworks display of red cherry, clove, and mild Indian spices bursts across the palate, supported by firm, taut tannins with an iron edge, underscored by blood orange acidity and framed by a red floral and sweet-spice finish. Gary Farrell Winery has been a pioneer of the Russian River Valley wine scene for over 40 years.

A lip-smacking, deeply flavorful Pinot Noir that builds beautifully in the glass with high-toned rose petal florals, ripe cherry, cherrywood smoke, and clove, all coming together seamlessly on a creamy palate. It finishes with a fine thread of cool wet slate and salinity, driven by vibrant tension and energy. Quite delicious. This 100% Pinot Noir is barrel-aged for 11 months in 30% new French oak and is primarily composed of Pommard and Wädenswil 2A clones. Owner and Winemaker Erik Miller founded Kokomo Winery in 2004 (named after his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana). Miller partnered with fourth generation grower Randy Peters to craft wines from the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valleys.

For readers familiar with the Three Sticks expression of Gap’s Crown, this bottling shows the other side of the flavor coin. It’s a more focused, tension-driven take on the site—less fleshy, more mineral-layered and crunchy-fruited, yet still thoroughly delicious. A creamy core remains, with panna cotta–like vanilla notes, but here it’s framed by harmonious wet-stone minerality and that signature redwood-grove and clove spice. It hits all the classic Gap’s Crown markers, but with restraint and precision. Really impressive—and quite fabulous.

The backbone of this wine is Gap’s Crown, blended with fruit from Marshall in the Sebastopol Hills, Pratt–Sexton, Crane Canyon, Thorn Ridge and Pepperwood. A mix of clones—667, Swan, 115, 114, 828, Dijon selections and Clone 23—fermented in stainless steel, concrete and oak, then aged 16 months in 40% new French oak. Absolutely gorgeous coastal florals lead the nose, intertwined with sea-spray minerality and wet stone. Crunchy dark berry fruit drives the palate, joined by savory spice notes reminiscent of a damp redwood grove, clove, scorched earth, tangerine peel and grapefruit zest. A subtle incense-like minerality carries through to the firm yet inviting finish.

This Clone 15 Chardonnay comes from Baer Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. The fruit is pressed off the skins quickly, then fermented in a mix of stainless steel and French oak, with very little new wood, and aged for ten months in Atelier and François Frères barrels. The wine shows vivid aromatics of candied ginger and elegant cedarwood, building into green apple and pear with a squeeze of lemon. Satiny textures and a well-balanced line of tension frame the palate. Crafted by winemaker Cabell Coursey and owned by Christine and Tony Lombardi.
This Pinot Noir is a blend of clones 2A, 115, 667, and Pommard from Baer Vineyard, along with Clone 777 from Gap’s Crown Vineyard. It’s fermented in stainless steel and aged for ten months in a 38-hectoliter cask. Co-owner Tony Lombardi also runs a charity, Hilinski’s Hope, which focuses on raising awareness around mental health in young athletes. The wine is incredibly zesty and floral, with notes of blood orange and grapefruit zest, rich cocoa nibs, and clove spice. Everything comes together in a full-flavored, medium-bodied expression with a velvety finish.

This 100% Chardonnay is sourced from several vineyards within Sonoma Carneros, including a small portion from the estate property. Aged for 10 months in French oak barrels, 20% of which were new, it’s a ripe, full-throttle, tropical-scented Chardonnay with a supple palate and toasty oak spices interlaced with baked apple and pear, all drizzled with a touch of lemon cream. Sean Minor Wines was founded in 2005 by husband-and-wife team Sean and Nicole Minor, and is still family-owned and operated. In 2023, their daughter, Elle Minor, joined the team as winemaker. Wines are made from a combination of estate fruit and fruit purchased from sustainably farmed sources throughout California.
This Pinot Noir hails from select Sonoma Carneros sites and was fermented in open-top stainless steel tanks before being pressed into French oak barrels—a mix of toast levels—where it completed malolactic fermentation and aged for 10 months, 20% new. It’s a soft, seductive, and full-bodied Pinot Noir with creamy dark cherry fruit, spiced plum, clove, and wet slate notes. Lengthy and fruit-driven on the finish. Sean Minor Wines was founded in 2005 by husband-and-wife team Sean and Nicole Minor, and is still family-owned and operated. In 2023, their daughter, Elle Minor, joined the team as winemaker. Wines are made from a combination of estate fruit and fruit purchased from sustainably farmed sources throughout California.

This 125-case cuvée is sourced from three vineyards spanning the interior Sonoma Coast—Baer, Bacigalupi, and Sangiacomo. Winemaker Matt Duffy selected barrels that expressed particularly coastal, savory tones inspired by the region’s cool-climate character. Some fermentations included whole clusters to add structure and spice. The result is a beautifully balanced Pinot Noir with layered aromatics, coastal energy, and textural depth. Aromas of black cherry and fig mingle with applewood smoke and apple blossom, enhanced by brown baking spices, clove, and stony minerality. Juicy and supple on the palate with zesty acidity, it’s a vibrant, finely tuned expression of site and season. Vaughn Duffy is a small, family-owned winery based in Sonoma County, producing 3,000 cases annually and specializing in Pinot Noir. The wines are made by forklift-wiz-turned-winemaker Matt Duffy, who co-founded the winery in 2009 with his wife, Sara Vaughn.

The Coastlands Vineyard is owned by Ross Cobb, and 2023 marks the final vintage that Williams Selyem will produce from this site. Aged for 16 months in 62% new French oak and 38% one-year-old barrels, the wine wine shows an incredible sous-bois character—local redwood, mineral-rich intensity, and all the wild forest nuance this coastal site is known for. Layers of pomegranate seed, bergamot, red fruit, grapefruit zest and zippy, zingy acidity unfold alongside a distinct sea-salt complexity. There’s a vibrant, refreshing acid spine and even a touch of blood-orange citrus. Dark-fruited, laser-focused and intense, this is a wine built for the long haul—one that will age for a very long time.

100% Pinot Noir, sourced from Hirsch Vineyard, and aged for 16 months in 43% new French oak and 57% one-year-old barrels, this red utilizes fruit from a handful of clones—including Pommard, Mt. Eden and Clone 114— from older vines on the East Ridge. Jeff Mangahas notes that you really have to coax the aromatics out of this wine, because there’s a strong maritime-saline influence that comes through—subtle red-berry tones layered with deep forest notes. The attack is driven by beautifully fine tannins balanced by a succulent mid-palate fruit weight. Those tannins linger with a crushed-mineral, crushed-rock and apple-skin character.

This 100% Pinot Noir is sourced from Precious Mountain Vineyard and was aged for 16 months in 67% new French oak and 33% one-year-old barrels. Jeff Mangahas notes that Williams Selyem has been making this wine since the late 1990s. The vineyard sits near Hirsch, and includes some of the oldest vines in the area, with plantings going back to 1971. It was originally planted to Alsatian varieties, and today it remains completely dry farmed. That dry farming coaxes out the wild side of Pinot Noir, giving this wine a rich underbrush character—super intense—with notes of leather, ironstone earth, blueberry compote, fresh blueberry fruit and fig paste. The tannins are the most robust of their entire lineup. Full-bodied and full-flavored, it shows incredibly deep, fleshy fruit, yet the wine still feels fresh, vibrant and totally intense.

The Sonoma Coast bottling is bright, crunchy and elegant, with more impactful tannins than even the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir—which has its own impressive textural range. This wine is fresh, inviting and dark-fruited, showing rich conifer and redwood-bark notes, with layers of texture built on a velvety core and grippy apple-skin tannins. Gorgeous cedarwood aromatics mingle with sage, wet stone, clove and citrus zest. A blend of 100% Pinot Noir fruit from Falstaff, Putnam, Starkey and Terra de Promissio, aged for 11 months in 42% new French oak and 58% one-year-old barrels.

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Blood oranges, tart cranberries, oak, cinnamon, black cherries, camphor, and fresh green herbs… this red is packing a lot of complexity and elegance on the nose. In the mouth, it shows impressive, savory meatiness, while never once losing its edgy freshness. Aged 15 months on the lees (with 40% new French oak), with just 578 cases made. – J.R.

This 100% Pinot Noir, a suitcase clone known as the “Cruz Especial Selection,” hails from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast. Aged eleven months in 33% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Compared with the regular Pinot Hill bottling, this Cruz Selection shows a softer, more brown-spiced character, fragrant with wild herbs—sage and dried wild fennel in particular. The fruit leans red-toned, the acidity a touch sharper, and the finish trails off crisp, clean, and bone dry. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

This 100% Pinot Noir from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast blends six clones—115, Hyde, Cruz, 667, Elite, and Pommard. Aged eleven months in 41% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is bold, tart, and structured, bursting with cherry fruit, cherry wood, incense, tangerine zest, and grapefruit pith. While the bouquet is generous and expressive, the palate is more lively and zesty, focused, and linear—a vibrant, food-friendly Pinot Noir. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

From Durell Vineyard. The sandhill at the top of this site isn’t sand at all but diatomaceous earth, and Gaffner works with three clones planted there: Wente, See, and Rued. The nose is intensely mineral, with a chalky edge, salted Marcona almonds, flinty notes, and well-measured toasty oak spice. The palate has real depth and flavor, showing apricot, white peach, pear, and yellow apple, all carried by a saline-toned minerality. A touch of lemon-cream lift comes through on the finish, a hallmark of Gaffner’s long, slow, cool fermentation with malolactic completing later.
From Durell, Sangiacomo’s Green Acres, and Catarina, where they work with a unique Chardonnay selection that reminds Jeff Gaffner of Riesling. The wine is barrel-fermented long and cool, with malolactic held back until the following spring; he stirs the lees through winter before allowing ML to finish naturally. The result is a layered, deeply textural Chardonnay with a complex, nuanced oak profile and impressive acid freshness. Extremely ripe quince, candied ginger, and a touch of saline drive the finish. Just dynamite.
Swan, 777, 415 and 828 clones are all co-fermented here, and it’s off to the races. Ferrington has two distinct sections: an older, virus-affected block, and newer plantings of Pommard and 828. The wine shows more mid-palate weight and generosity, with dark berry fruit, fig notes, black tea and loamy earth. A building richness is neatly framed by a cool freshness from the firm acid backbone, with lingering brown baking spices on the finish. Energetic, layered and delicious.

Fighting Brothers indicates a multi-vineyard blend; in this case it’s Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Roberts Road. Gaffner’s Pinot Noir approach is consistent across sites: he starts with a cold soak and works in pumpovers and punchdowns before alcohol rises, as he believes ABV acts as a solvent. Early extraction builds color, tannin, and esters, and once fermentation is underway he backs off. After fermentation and cold stabilization, the wine goes to barrel for about 16 months with 40% new French oak. The method precipitates out harsher tannins and preserves the finer elements, resulting in wonderfully precise, soft, velvety tannins that frame ripe dark-berry fruit. A cool, refreshing edge runs through the wine, along with underbrush nuances and warm baking spices on a lengthy finish.

Sourced from two sections of Gap’s Crown—one higher on the slope and one lower in elevation. Incredibly floral and bright, with red berry fruit, rich baking spices and cherry pie notes. Medium-bodied on the palate yet delivering impressive depth of flavor, with a saline-acid brightness that feels both enticing and sumptuous. Totally captivating—you can’t help but finish the entire bottle in one sitting.

Gorgeously woody and deeply sumptuous on the palate. Creamy in texture yet bolstered by crisp apple-skin tannins, with an expressive salinity running through the core. Layers of sumptuous brown spices unfold alongside graham cracker crust on the finish.

Such an alluring nose of anise, fennel, and lemon cream and French pastry, apricot jam and flinty minerals, all coming together on the palate framed by richer tropical notes of grilled pineapple, and white peach, with butterscotch cream and lemon zest, supported by zingy acid tension and a toasty oak finish. This Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Ganer is one of the more richer styles of Chardonnay he produces, and if you love that style this is your bag baby.
This is crafted by Bob Cabral. Super-fragrant from the outset, with rose petal and rose stem notes, dark cherry, and dark slate, lifted by white pepper spice and fresh redwood forest nuances. Black tea notes support the super-dark, juicy, ripe fruit and macerated cherry character. Hints of tangerine peel and crushed cocoa nibs add detail, all carried by a velvety texture and impressive length.

This is a light, bright, zippy Chardonnay, boasting Sonoma Coast sea-spray minerality, subtle lemon and lime citrus, white flowers, and unsalted, unroasted almonds with a touch of almond-skin grip. There’s plenty of tension to carry this medium-bodied white well into the night or through a long meal, while a hint of sea grass and vanilla rounds it all out.
Anne Moller-Racke was the vineyard manager at Chateau Buena Vista from the early 1980s until 2001, when she helped establish Donum and remained there until 2019. During that time, she planted the Anne Katherina Vineyard in Carneros and, in 2013, began producing wine under her own label, Blue Farm. Total production is around 2,500 cases. The Sonoma Coast bottling is a blend of Anne’s vineyard sources and is poured mainly by the glass in local restaurants. She self-distributes in California. Once the fruit arrives at the winery, it’s sorted, given a light saignée, then cold-soaked for 3–5 days. As the must warms, fermentation kicks off in tank at cool temperatures for up to 19 days. Once dry, it’s pressed, and only the free run is used. The wine is aged in one-third new French oak for up to 17 months. This Pinot Noir is a bit coiled and very youthful, showing crunchy red berry fruit, chalky minerality, and a real earthiness—perhaps from the Wadenswil clone. Black tea–like tannins frame the palate as darker fruit emerges on the mid-palate and finish. There’s plenty of tension and freshness throughout.

Fresh and zesty, with a touch of grape-skin tannin and an intriguing, heady mix of white Rainier cherry, apricot and white peach, accented by subtle almond undertones. There’s also a gentle pop of tarragon or wild fennel and a super-salty core of crunchy orchard fruit and dried white-floral notes. Exotic, enticing and genuinely fun to drink. I’d pair this with a selection of farmers’ market hard cheeses and charcuterie.
A dark and brooding Pinot with intense boysenberry, plum, and black raspberry fruits. Hints of leather, turned earth, and tobacco and tea leaves join the fray on the wonderful nose. It’s silky and substantial, but clearly has a mineral edge (and great structure) under all of that ripe palate fruitiness. – J.R.

Stoetz Ridge Vineyard faces east and is planted entirely to Clone 667. It’s a low-yielding site, and the resulting wine is quite pretty yet carries good heft and grip. There’s an old redwood-grove character here, with red cherry fruit and an elegance and prettiness that define the style. Good length and an easy quaffer. All night-picked with 5–20% whole cluster, given a two-day settle, then treated with a small sulfur adjustment before native-yeast fermentation. Bâtonnage begins with more frequent stirring and gradually tapers off, after which the wine is racked into roughly 35–45% new French oak for 15 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

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