Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 77

Year's Best US Pinot Noirs
flavor, along with a gentle rain of tannins,
persistent in their mineral spice. You might
imagine the exposed sandstone of the ridges
or scents of the kelp beds of the Pacific as the
pretty red fruit lasts. (486 cases) -J.G. §
522422

93 | Hirsch

523749

94 | Fort Ross Vineyard

$52

2018 Fort Ross-Seaview Fort Ross Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Jeff Pisoni makes this wine
for Lester and Linda Schwartz, at the 52-acre
vineyard they planted in the 1990s. The elevations range from 1,200 to 1,700 feet on a
ridge one mile from the Pacific, the kind of
marginal site that excelled in the long, cool
vintage of 2018, a season without heat spikes.
The cold of the coast and the warmth of the
sun generated a pinot noir with transparent
red berry flavors and mineral brilliance to
the darker tannins, their edges seeming to
glint with facets of fruit complexity, reflecting black currants at the underside of ripeness against the brighter, zesty red-fruit flavor. Delicious now with duck rillettes, this is
also suited to cellar time. -J.G. §
522423

94 | Hirsch

$60

$85

2018 Fort Ross Seaview East Ridge Estate
Pinot Noir ^ Bright, spicy and clean, this pinot
noir shows the riper side of the Hirsch farcoast vineyard, from parcels on the relatively
protected eastern ridge. It opens to immediate pleasure, rich with a smoky sandstone
rasp to the tannins, but it really only shows
its depth of flavor a day or two later. What
starts out as glossy gains complex detail,
refreshed by mineral tones layered with redgrapefruit and cardamom spice. (527 cases)
-J.G. §

GREEN VALLEY OF
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

94 | Iron Horse Vineyards

521448

90 | Gary Farrell

$75

90 | Hirsch

$95

93 | Fort Ross Vineyard

$52

2017 Fort Ross-Seaview Fort Ross Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ This far-coast pinot has a
pink-grapefruit character, just turning the
corner toward red fruit. It's cool and zesty,
lightly framed by oak, a clean wine for grilled
salmon. -J.G. (W&S 10/20; 458 cases) §
522426

$85

2017 Fort Ross-Seaview Fort Ross Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Initially cardamom-spicy,
this wine's bright berry flavors leave quickly,
begging the question, Will it open? A day
later, the wine answers with a resounding Yes,
lengthening out in a rash of strawberries and
sandstone abrasion. It's a naked evocation
of Fort Ross's coastal ridges, a pleasure to
decant for grilled seafood. (627 cases) -J.G. §
522428

2018 Fort Ross Seaview West Ridge Estate
Pinot Noir ^ This comes from a collection
of parcels on the ocean-side of Hirsch's farcoast estate, on ridgetops once covered in
redwoods-timbered more than a century
ago to rebuild San Francisco after the city
burned. The wine carries a memory of those
coastal redwoods in its foresty red-berry

$80

2017 Fort Ross-Seaview Stagecoach Road
Pinot Noir ^ Jeff Pisoni makes this wine from
a collection of parcels closest to the Pacific
at Lester and Linda Schwartz's Fort Ross
Vineyard. It's light and lithe with cherry and
spiced-plum flavors, lasting with peppery
warmth. The mineral scent and sweet fruit
create a vibrant contrast. (266 cases) -J.G. §

522707

2018 Fort Ross Seaview San Andreas Fault
Estate Pinot Noir ^ Jasmine Hirsch blended
this wine from 45 of her family's 67 parcels
of vines, spread across two ridges on the far
Sonoma coast; the Hirsches farm and vinify
all of them separately. In 2018, San Andreas
comes in at 12.9 percent alcohol, the ripeness achieved through cold and sunny days
that broke through an initially foggy veraison, then a week of heat after September 7
that boosted the color and flavor intensity
in the grapes. This is the best San Andreas
Fault bottling in recent memory, a powerfully bold, juicy and intense wine without
any weight. The structure is fit and lithe, a
cold, crisp pinot saturated with dark cherryskin tannins, resonant with notes of cherries
and coastal forest. If it's anywhere close to
within your budget, buy a case of this wine.
(3,280 cases) -J.G. §
522421

93 | Hirsch

91 | Fort Ross Vineyard

2018 Fort Ross Seaview Block 8 Estate
Pinot Noir ^ This rocky parcel planted in 1993
to a field blend of the Pommard and Wädenswil clones often produces one of Hirsch's
most compelling pinot noirs. In 2018, tasted
pre-release, it's immediately powerful, fragrant and ripe, though the dense floral notes
and round fruit do not yet extend into the
finish. The tannins turn lean with a bitter
spice, needing bottle age to integrate. (494
cases) -J.G. §
522430

$87

2018 Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Gold Ridge Pinot Noir ^ This is a blend of
several parcels at Iron Horse, named for the
Goldridge soils that dominate these rolling
Green Valley hills, a factor as significant as
the coastal fog that cools them each morning. The wine comes in at 13.9 percent alcohol in 2018, its restrained ripeness showing
in a completely delicious crush of cranberry,
strawberry and mineral flavors. The fruit is
generous, layered into brisk tannic earthiness, the wine offering firm structural integrity without weight. Breathe those layers of
fruit and tannins for a minute or more as
you contemplate roasting fresh seabass with
morels. -J.G. §

522710

93 | Iron Horse Vineyards

$87

2018 Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Q Pinot Noir ^ The Q Block at Iron Horse is
1.8 acres planted in 2010 to the Pommard 5
clone of pinot noir. The steep hillside block
WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2021

Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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