J. Lohr Fog's Reach Pinot Noir 2019
-
Tasting
Panel
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2019 J. Lohr Fog’s Reach Pinot Noir expresses the varietal terroir of the Arroyo Seco region with blue sage and strawberry compote notes on the nose. Bright flavors of red cherry envelope the palate and leave supple cardamom spice on the lengthy finish.
Pair with a mushroom risotto or a board of Spanish charcuterie.
Professional Ratings
-
Tasting Panel
This classic French oak–aged label is one of J. Lohr’s finest Pinot Noirs. Composed of two Dijon clones grown on well-drained, loamy sand and gravelly cobblestone, it testifies to its quality with its concentrated flavor, silky mouthfeel, and stylistic elegance. A wash of cinnamon on roses is buoyant, almost weightless, on the palate. Red cherry and tomato leaf are accented by clove, basil, and dried sage.
Other Vintages
2018-
The Somm
Journal -
Wilfred
Wong
-
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Enthusiast
For fifty years and through two generations, the Lohr family and their team have been leaders in the California wine industry. Founder Jerry Lohr and his three children Steve, Cynthia, and Lawrence oversee one of the country’s most successful and trusted fine wine labels. With first plantings in Monterey in 1972 and then in Paso Robles in 1986, the J. Lohr team helped write the book on sustainable winegrowing on the Central Coast.
Today, J. Lohr farms more than 4,000 acres of estate vineyards in Monterey’s Arroyo Seco and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations, Paso Robles, and St. Helena in the Napa Valley. J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines produces eight tiers of award-winning releases: J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon, J. Lohr Cuvée Series, J. Lohr Vineyard Series, J. Lohr Gesture, J. Lohr Pure Paso Proprietary Red Wine, J. Lohr Estates, J. Lohr Monterey Roots, and ARIEL Vineyards. J. Lohr was honored with the 2020 Green Medal Leader Award in recognition of the company’s decades-long commitment to sustainability.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Named after the dramatic, seasonal river of rain and snowmelt that cuts through the upper elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Arroyo Seco AVA extends east from the resultant mountain gorge, and into the rural and warm Salinas Valley. During the growing season, cool and damp Pacific Ocean air penetrates the gorge and flows into the valley, creating a cool evening respite for vineyards after a hot summer day. This natural water-release has also created a subterranean aquifer, which helps set the foundation of the AVA's boundaries and supplies the vineyards with water.
Arroyo Seco was actually home to the first commercial vineyard in California, called Mission Ranch, which was owned and propogated by the Mirassou family in the 1960s.
Chardonnay is most widely grown here. But as one of Monterey’s warmer regions, Arroyo Seco enjoys the highest praise for its reds, namely Bordeaux blends.
Arroyo Seco is one of the oldest AVAs in California, its status granted in the early 1980s, and also remains one of its smallest.