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Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a new offering, what the winery calls “the latest evolution of Saintsbury Pinot Noir.” While Saintsbury produces several single-vineyard bottlings from the Sonoma Coast, this wine is a blend of those single vineyard designates, including Pratt Vineyard (Sebastopol Hills), Sundawg Ridge Vineyard (Green Valley of the Russian River Valley), Roberts Road Vineyard (Petaluma Gap), and Van der Kamp Vineyard (Sonoma Mountain). The diversity of soils and microclimates makes for a wine that, according to the winery, is “bursting with the smells of the Saintsbury Garden at peak season: dewy florals, warm loam, sun-drenched leaves, and bursting fruit freshened by the Carneros breeze.” Medium-bodied with vibrant red fruit, citrus and spice; a generous palate, lively acidity, and sumptuous texture, this wine (in the handy 375 ml. bottles) will enhance any occasion in or out of doors.
Andre Tchelistcheff , the great Russian emigre winemaker/prophet, proclaimed that Carneros with its cool climate would one day produce Northern California’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Though a few growers and sparkling wine producers in the 1970s heeded his call and began planting vineyards in the district, it took a few years for a winery to focus on making a true Carneros Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. One of the pioneers in this area was Saintsbury.
Founded in 1981 by Richard Ward and David Graves (who had met in an oenology class at UC Davis) Saintsbury has always aimed to produce distinctive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay exclusively from the cool and windy terroir of Carneros. Starting small, success came quickly, with the winery growing to 35,000 cases within 10 years. Over the years, Saintsbury has focused almost entirely on single vineyard and appellation-designated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – though recently it has begun to make wine from vineyards in the Anderson Valley and to produce some Carneros Syrah as well. Saintsbury was an early adopter of using varietal clones to improve their wine by, for example, planting a particular vineyard site with the most appropriate clones or by using clonal diversity to achieve more complexity. A few years ago, Saintsbury sold off its Garnet line of high value wines in order to focus on appellation-designated or single vineyard wines. Frenchman Jerome Chery, the winemaker since 2004, is a specialist in these sorts of wines.
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Appellation(s) | Sonoma Coast |
| Winery | Saintsbury |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Color | Red |
| Varietal(s) | Pinot Noir |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
| Volume | 375ml |
| Bottle Size | 6.5 x 25.0 |
| Case Size | 27.5 x 20.5 x 26.0 |
| Alcohol | 13.5% |
| Product Code | SA21SPx |
| UPC | 732458213939 |
A complex nose of cherry, strawberry, and pomegranate fruit with notes of citrus and Earl Grey tea leads to a generous palate of red fruit flavors and spice notes. Lively acidity and silky tannins form a sumptuous texture.
After fermentation primarily on native yeasts and 20-25% whole clusters, the wine aged 11 months in neutral French Oak.