Sanford Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017
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Jeb
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Robert
Parker
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The 2017 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict is bright, beautifully layered and nuanced. Crushed flowers, pipe tobacco, pomegranate, raspberry, and cinnamon all grace this sensual wine. The palate delivers earthy, spicy red berry flavors with a suave texture. To allow the vineyard to shine through, we take a gentle approach in the cellar aging in French Oak barrels (30% new) for 15 months.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lastly, the 2017 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict comes from one of the top sites in the Sta. Rita Hills and was 60% destemmed and brought up in 15% new French oak for 15 months. It has a beautiful bouquet of sweet strawberries, toasted spices, forest floor, and earth, with just a hint of salty minerality and seaside-like notes. Ethereal, medium-bodied, ultra-pure, and flawlessly balanced, it's a stunning Pinot Noir that ranks with the finest releases in the vintage. It will keep for 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, aged 15 months in 30% new French oak, has a medium ruby-purple color and lovely aromas of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and wafts of floral perfume with a spicy touch of aniseed. The medium-bodied palate is silky with expansive, perfumed fruits and seamless freshness, finishing long and layered. 2,172 cases produced.
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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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.