4823361749074
$ 99.99
97 Points - limited
Limited release of Santa Barbara's new Cult Pinot Noir. Winemaker Matt Dees (Jonata, The Hilt) is crafting some of the area's best wines.
97 Points Antonio Gallonmi (Vinous): "A dazzling wine, the 2018 Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel Vineyard possesses magnificent richness to match its statuesque personality. The flavors are rich, bold and ample, and yet the 2018 retains so much nuance and vibrancy. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, graphite and spice build into the huge, resonant finish. What a wine. The 2018 was done with 6% whole clusters and was aged in a combination of one and two-year-old barrels...Ronald Piazza and Michal Palmer own Mail Road and the Mt. Carmel Vineyard, one of the top sites in California for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Winemaker Matt Dees sure knows how to get the most out of this fruit. The wines I tasted are off the charts.
96 Points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2019 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard is more floral and exotic, with a thrilling core of black raspberry and wild strawberry fruits supported by candied orange, violet, flowery incense, and assorted spices. These all carry to a vibrant, medium-bodied Pinot Noir with a classic, focused spine of acidity, a more rounded mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's another gorgeous wine. Drink bottles any time over the coming 10-12 years or so."
Mount Carmel Vineyard is the exclusive purveyor to Mail Road Wines. Mount Carmel Vineyard is located on a steep, south-facing cliff, north of the Santa Ynez River. Established in 1990 by Ron and Nancy Piazza, the vineyard is planted to a variety of own-rooted, organically and principally dry farmed, heritage Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones. The vineyard is at 800 to 1000 feet elevation, with botella clay, limestone, diatomaceous earth, calcerous deposits and sandy loam soils.
$ 54.99
New Pinot label from Dan Kosta of Kosta Browne and partner Emeril Lagasse! Limited.
93 Points Wine Spectator: "Rich and well-structured, with concentrated dark plum, cherry and raspberry flavors that are filled with plenty of Asian spice accents. Ends with notes of dark chocolate and cream on the mineral-filled finish, with peppery hints. Drink now through 2025."
93 Points Wine Enthusiast: "A partnership between the families of Dan Kosta and Emeril Lagasse, this red blends together grapes from Campbell Ranch, Sunchase Vineyard and Gap's Crown. With bright red fruit and buzzy baking spice, it retains a taste of red-apple skin, woody pine resin and brooding acidity."
The AldenAlli 2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is medium-bodied, offering subtle fruit flavors, bright acidity and structure that sing in intricate harmony. Inviting aromas of firm blackberry, cedar and pitted cherry are accentuated with floral notes. The nuanced palate balances bright cherry, blackberry and pluot fruits with hints of savory fennel fronds and sea mist. This wine is medium-bodied and typical of Sonoma Coast with bright acidity, subtle fruit flavors and elegant structure. The winemaker is Shane Finley, formerly an assistant winemaker at Kosta Browne for many years.
A masterpiece of complexity, the Aldenalli Sonoma Coast Pinot is cut from Gap’s Crown, Sunchase, and Campbell Ranch Vineyards, skillfully marrying five Pinot Noir clones. Campbell provides elegance and bright acidity, complemented by the structure and spice characteristics of Gap’s Crown and Sunchase Vineyards in the Petaluma Wind Gap. Capturing the pure essence of this fruit, winemakers Shane Finley and Dan Kosta aged this wine for only ten months in barrel. The resulting wine is remarkably fresh with penetrating fruit and thought-provoking complexity that’s hard to find.
$ 54.99
96 Points
One of the best new Pinot Noir producers in California! The partners, who all previously worked at Williams Selyem, are deeply committed to crafting high quality, cool climate single vineyard Pinot Nor, Syrah and Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in Northern California. Limited.
94 Points Robert Parker: "Medium ruby-purple, the 2020 Pinot Noir Comptche Ridge is scented of pomegranate, blueberry, tea leaves, mushrooms and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate offers an intense core of perfumed berry fruit supported by grainy tannins and bright acidity, and it finishes long and sapid. Drink it now for its plush, alluring fruit."
previous vintage 96 Points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "Another stellar wine in this range, the Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Comptche Ridge is fabulous. In this vintage, the Comptche Ridge is a bit richer and deeper than it has been, while avoiding some of the austerity this wine can show. Beguiling in its aromatics and finely sculpted, the 2018 is marvelously complex. There is plenty of tannin, and the acids are bright (as they are for all these wines), but the 2018 is deep and so multi-faceted. It will appeal most to readers who enjoy taut, structured reds."
Located a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, this vineyard sits near the tiny town of Annapolis, and is farmed by Steve Campbell. At approximately 750 feet above sea level, it sits right at the boundary of the marine layer, ensuring that the cool, coastal climate delays ripening well beyond the warmer vineyards to the east. The two-decade-old vines grow on sandy, low-vigor Goldridge soil, which helps reduce yields to near two tons per acre.
$ 74.99