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Sourced from vineyards across the Central Coast, Xander Soren’s 2021 “XANDER” Santa Barbara County is a fun and lively Pinot Noir crafted to balance generous fruit with a savory, minimal-intervention style. Benefitting from the 2021 vintage’s long, cool growing season, the wine achieves a beautiful concentration of flavor while maintaining a bright 13.5% ABV and refreshing acidity. The upfront aromas of juicy raspberry and cherry hard candy, framed by hints of roasted shiitake and cacao, make for a versatile profile equally at home at your local izakaya or fine dining establishments. Fumihiro Tamayose, chef at TAMA Tokyo, describes the wine as “a smile in a bottle,” noting that its nostalgic hints of cloves, pepper, and yuzu-marmalade perfectly complement his fusion of Okinawan and Chinese cuisine. He suggests the wine’s textured finish is an ideal match for the bold flavors of his kitchen. For further pairings, richer dishes like miso eggplant, unagi, or yakitori would be lovely, as would heartier favorites like duck and grilled meats.
Xander Soren is the mind behind a radical wine venture that’s been years in the making: developing a high-end Pinot Noir designed specifically to pair with Japanese cuisine. After a career in Silicon Valley that included over 20 years with Apple, where he worked on such iconic products as the iPod, Garageband, and iPhone ringtones, he turned his attention to a more genteel set of passions: wine, Japanese culture and Japanese cuisine. Yet his vision and business model are a far cry not only from fast-paced Silicon Valley but from what’s typical in California wine as well. For in addition to honing his brand to appeal to Japanese connoisseurs, he’s decided to limit his production to around 600 cases per vintage - a boutique wine business for sure!
For Xander’s style of Pinot Noir, he is focusing on cooler appellations, especially the Santa Rita Hills, which, because of its unique terroir, can produce wines that rival those of Burgundy. Xander sources fruit from historic vineyards such as La Encantada, Sanford & Benedict, Sierra Mar, and Olivet Lane. He is also honored to use grapes from Yuki Vineyard, owned by Japanese producer Akiko Freeman on the Sonoma Coast.
Xander’s winemaker is Shalini Sekhar, a rising star (2015 Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2019 Winemaker to Watch) who has made wine at Williams Selyem, Stag’s Leap, and her own label called Ottavino. She also produces wine - especially Pinot Noir — for a number of small boutique labels through her custom crush operation. Winemaking at Xander Soren is non-intrusive and labor-intensive, which necessarily results in limited production. Not only vineyard blocks but clones are elevated and aged separately in carefully-selected French oak barrels and blended before bottling to ensure excellent balance. Refreshing acidity, bright flavors balanced by darker notes and character, and, above all, lower levels of alcohol are necessary to pair with sukiyaki, wagyu, tempura, and, perhaps, even sushi. Many of the wines are produced in amounts of less than 100 cases.
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Appellation(s) | Santa Barbara County |
| Winery | Xander Soren |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Color | Red |
| Varietal(s) | Pinot Noir |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Bottle Size | 8.2 x 29.5 |
| Case Size | 34.5 x 26.0 x 30.0 |
| Alcohol | 13.4% |
| Product Code | BP21XP |
| UPC | NONE |
Upfront aromas of juicy raspberry, cherry hard candy, and dried violets combine with a hint of cacao to support an approachable palate. The structure is framed by bright, refreshing acidity and balanced tannins, with a gentle savory note of roasted shiitake mushroom. The finish is long and textured, with lingering touches of cardamom and vanilla.
The wine aged 17 months in French oak barrels with additional time in bottle before release.