April 2018
2015 COAST GRADE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 95 points
2015 ALFARO FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 94 points
2015 WOODRUFF FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 92 points
2015 LESTER FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 91 points
2015 COASTVIEW VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 90 points
2015 COAST GRADE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 95 points:
“Bradley Brown sources grapes for this wine from Jim Beauregard’s vineyard in Bonny Doon, a site three miles from the Pacific and 1,300 feet above it, not far from a limestone quarry. He ferments this with whole bunches (about 70 percent of the fruit) and without added yeasts, creating a pinot noir with the energy, clarity and lift of a wine grown in limestone. It’s easy to believe you can smell the coastal forest, the ocean breeze and the limestone there in the wine, but whatever that smell actually might be, it’s pretty great. This is an exciting wine that translates the tectonic power of the Santa Cruz Mountains into elegance. (45 cases)”
2015 ALFARO FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 94 points:
“The yields were so low in 2015 that Bradley Brown had to cajole Richard Alfaro for enough fruit to fill a fermenter and, eventually, four barrels, for this wine. The vineyard is located on the northeastern side of the Gabilan Mountains, just above Corralitos, at an elevation of 1,000 feet. Brown was happy enough with the ripeness of the stems that he fermented this wine as whole bunches, and the resulting pinot noir delivers power directly out of the tannins, dense and closed off when you pull the cork. A day later, it’s open and racy, and it doesn’t stop generating umami energy, a compression of rose-petal, red-apple-skin and black-mushroom flavors. if you’re looking for a seductive pinot fix, look no further.
(105 cases)”
2015 WOODRUFF FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 92 points:
“In the hills just north of Corralitos, this dry-farmed vineyard was planted 35 years ago, providing a quiet, gently rounded 2015 with smoky red-fruit tones that last on sappy richness. It’s mostly about textural elegance, the gracious touch of the tannins, warm notes of alcohol softening the cool fruit. Not yet complex, it should develop more detail as it ages. (80 cases)”
2015 LESTER FAMILY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 91 points:
“This vineyard is in Corralitos, a relatively low-elevation site in the southern reaches of the Santa Cruz Moun- tains planted on sandy loam. The wine has a cranberry fruit austerity, with notes of cel- ery root and bitter orange. Close your eyes and you might think you are drinking a rich white. But it’s saturated with woodsy spice, giving it the grip of a delicate red. Pour it with fresh sardines off the grill. (205 cases)”
2015 COASTVIEW VINEYARD PINOT NOIR – 90 points:
“This grows on a north-facing hillside where syrah struggled to ripen, so John Allen began grafting it to pinot noir- Dijon clones from the Alfaro Vineyard in 2008. Those vines produced alight, airy 2015 with flavors of cherry pits and cherry flesh, tight, tart and almost lemony in its fresh acidity. Pour it with roasted sea has finished in a red wine reduction. (155 cases)”