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Rose petal, pomegranate and an herbal blast of oregano and marjoram show on the nose of this bottling from an historic producer in the mountains east of Salinas. The palate is snappy in acidity with plenty of herbal influence, offering thyme-flecked strawberry-sauce flavorsWine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The 2021 Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains) is a gorgeous wine that captures the essence of the house style. Bright, lifted and wonderfully transparent, the 2021 is all class. Sweet spice and citrus accents complement a core of bright red-toned fruit. Whole cluster accents add layers of nuance. This is such a gorgeous Pinot.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Stunning aromatics lift from the 2021 Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills, which pours a jeweled ruby and offers a mix of red and black fruits, an amazing floral perfume, pine, and crushed stones, all well-interwoven. Seamless on the palate, this medium to full-bodied red has a silky mineral texture, with velvety tannins and gorgeous concentration throughout. With long-lasting energy and outstanding purity, it’s hard to resist now and feels as though it will last for the next 15 or more years. This is one of the best wines I have ever tasted from Mimi Casteel.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JD

From 40-year-old self-rooted vines that are organically farmed, the 2021 Pinot Noir Carter Vineyard is a ripe ruby hue and offers notes of grenadine, candied roses, and cinnamon. Its tannins are ripe and fine, and it fills the palate with ripe red fruit, apricot, and notes of crushed stone along with mouthwatering salinity. Drink 2023-2038.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JD

The deep ruby 2021 Pinot Noir St. Dolores Estate takes on a darker though approachable profile, with notes of lavender, fresh blackberry, wild cherry, and anise. Balanced with great energy and a more refined feel, it has fine tannins (although it has structure) and offers bright, even acidity and a long finish. This is already indicating that it’s going to be a remarkable wine with serious aging potential. Drink 2025-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDDolores must be the patron saint of elegant Pinot Noir, as this beautiful wine will make you want to light a candle in her honor. The wine’s raspberry and strawberry aromas are punctuated by wisps of cedar, watermelon rind and almond roca. Frisky acidity and plush tannins back flavors of nectarines, cherries and saline. Amen.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2021 Pinot Noir Estate St. Dolores grumbles up from the glass with earth tones and exotic spice, paving the way for dusty dried strawberries. Racy and sleek, it opens with a saline tinge, giving way to dark red berry depths and inner herbal tones. Its zesty acidity refreshes the palate even as a combination of primary concentration and grippy tannins takes hold through the long and structured finale.Vinous Media | 93+ VMAttractive aromas of cherries and blueberries with hints of violets, cocoa and chalk. Medium-bodied, clean and pure with crunchy blue-fruited and polished, almost glossy texture. Vivid and flavorful with a firm finish. Better from 2025.James Suckling | 92 JS

The 2021 Pinot Noir Goldrock Estate is deep, rich and explosive. Dark red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange, menthol, spice and rose petals are all amplified in this dramatic Sonoma Coast Pinot. The complexity and intensity here are simply unreal. Give this time, there’s a lot of wine in the glass.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe 2021 Pinot Noir Goldrock Estate is a deep, saturated ruby. Fresh aromas of wet rocks, black raspberry, and pressed flowers lift from the glass, with a touch of spice. Medium to full-bodied, it has good structure, with fresh acidity and notes of crunchy red cherry and fresh pine, as well as fine tannins. Its perfume lasts right through to its clean, lifted finish. This is a lovely wine to drink 2025-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDBeautiful purity of fruit here with dark strawberry, dark cherry and blood orange aromas and flavors that follow through to a medium to full body with firm tannins and a linear and long finish. Lovely now but will improve with a couple of years of bottle age.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2021 Goldrock Estate Pinot Noir is medium ruby-purple in color. Cranberry sauce, redcurrant jelly, and pomegranate notes spring from the glass, followed by hints of cinnamon toast, dark chocolate, and violets. The medium to full-bodied palate has a very fine-grained texture and just enough freshness to frame the intense red berry flavors, finishing long and spicy.The Wine Independent | 95 TWIOffers a vivid, precise display of mulberry puree, along with light violet, hibiscus, anise and blackberry notes. Sleek, with a slight savory ripple at the very end for contrast. Delightfully pure. Drink now through 2029. 1,494 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThis wine from the Goldrock Estate is a riper-styled Pinot Noir than the West Sonoma Coast has become known for. It has a gorgeous aromatic profile of sappy blackberries, sous bois, and crumbled violets. The palate is a melange of dark berries framed in smoke, sea salt minerality, tart blackberries, fresh mint, and ripe red cherry flesh mouthfuls. Savoury spices carry the finish with white and green peppercorn and a note of black tea leaf.Decanter | 93 DEC

The 2021 Pinot Noir Estate is blended from all five of Eyrie’s estate vineyards: the Eyrie, Sisters, Outcrop, Roland Green and Daphne. Cranberry, raspberry and strawberry aromas are accented by wafts of autumn leaves, earth and dried herbs. The light-bodied palate features concentrated berry, earth and spice layers. It’s framed by softly astringent tannins and vibrant acidity, and it has a long, nuanced finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2021 Pinot Noir Estate lifts from the glass with a mentholated freshness, giving way to dried roses and strawberries. Silky and enveloping, it possesses a core of vividly ripe wild berries and sweet herbal tones that resonate over a tactile staining of saline minerals. Grippy tannins saturate through the long, spicy finish as repleting inner florals and bitter hints of licorice fade.Vinous Media | 94+ VMThe medium ruby 2021 Pinot Noir Estate is fresh with aromas of wild strawberries, fresh roses, and beet root. Medium-bodied and elegant, it floats across the palate with fine tannins and a delicately earthy finish. It’s a killer value and a great snapshot of what Eyrie is all about. It is hands down one of the best entry level Pinot Noir with a clear vision of what you can expect further in the range. Drink 2023-2030.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDThis shows notes of spiced herbs, dust and ground spices with vivid and juicy cherries and redcurrants. Despite being medium-bodied, it shows weight and structure with impressive concentration of blue-fruit in the middle, and crunchy acidity. Tannins are firm and crunchy with an attractive chocolaty finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JS

So harmonious, structured and elegant, layering savory, mineral notes with beautiful fruit and spices on a muscular texture. Made from the original vines that Josh Jensen planted in 1975, it has harmony and breadth that are captivating. Earthy, savory, white peppery flavors mingle with sour cherries and sweet cherries on the palate. A great wine that deserves to age for a while. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.James Suckling | 97 JSAn intense yet elegant density, loaded with aromas of strawberry, blueberry and wild mints, enlivens the nose in this bottling from a vineyard planted at 2,200 feet in 1975, now yielding less than a ton per acre. The palate is broad and juicy with wild currant flavors that are cut by star anise and singed pine needle. Drink now-2041.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WELike the Selleck Vineyard, the 2021 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard was aged in 30% new French oak (18 months), with the balance in neutral barrels. It’s a slightly bigger wine than the Selleck and has a beautiful array of red and black fruits as well as some underbrush, chalk, sappy flowers, and some meaty, gamey nuances. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Pinot Noir with terrific overall balance, a focused, elegant mouthfeel, plenty of concentration and density, and a great finish. It’s another wine that deserves 3-5 years of bottle age and is going to age brilliantly.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe 2021 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard is another wine of incredible depth and richness, reflective of the nearly 50-year-old vines on this elevated site (2,200 feet). Though it’s as brawny and aromatically closed as the other 2021s today, it displays sheer seamlessness and textural harmony on the palate. Dried cherry, cinnamon, graphite and white pepper emerge, once again shyly, but an extra measure of savory nuance and juicy freshness here is alluring. It may feel like a sketch of itself today, but in time, the lines will fill in with color, and everything will come to life.Vinous Media | 95+ VMStylish and perfumy, showing dried red currant, damson plum and cherry notes that glide through, with a mix of red tea, sandalwood and potpourri forming a backdrop on the lengthy finish. Offers sneaky length thanks to an echo of chalk dust. Drink now through 2037. 650 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2021 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard opens with dense, cake-like aromas that reflect the yields of less than one ton per acre from the oldest vines at this estate site, planted in 1975. Black plum, raspberry and dark spice notes introduce a supple yet sturdy palate, seamlessly transitioning to a slow-moving finish that uncoils to reveal its elegantly bracing tannin structure. It is a lovely combination of commanding power and effortless tenacity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPSome of California’s older Pinot Noir vines, the Jensen Vineyard Pinot delivers on depth and complexity from the 670m vineyard on Mt Harlan. Smoky clove aromatics lead the way, followed by muddled blackberries, dusty minerality and hints of crushed black stone. The palate shows deep black cherry flesh, black bramble fruits and loads of white pepper-backed spice.Decanter | 93 DEC

Brilliant ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Outcrop is expressive in its aromas of wet stone, fresh pine, and grenadine. Medium-bodied, it offers more concentration and personality on the palate, revealing ripe tannins, juicy, ripe, red-berried fruit, and an elegant, long finish. It’s drinking well now and will continue to improve with 3-5 years bottle age. Drink 2025-2035.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe 2021 Pinot Noir Outcrop is earthy and savory in the glass. An herbal thrust combines with hints of white pepper, crushed stones and wild strawberries. This is juicy and full of energy, with racy acidity and cool-toned red fruits gliding across the palate, leaving olive and sage suggestions. Inner florals echo over a bed of grippy tannins as the 2021 tapers off long and full of zesty tension, leaving a slowly fading hint of sour citrus.Vinous Media | 94 VMWith the Outcrop Pinot, Jason Lett believes the site starts to mark the wines, offering a reliable savoury character and chewy tannins. Own-rooted, Wadenswil vines from a northern exposure produce wines of savoury structure. Aromas of brambleberries, Spanish lavender and wintergreen are marked by savoury herbal notes. The palate is deftly structured, offering savoury herbs, green tea leaf and a dollop of pomegranate.Decanter | 94 DECAttractive aromas of toasted spices, black cherries and wild blueberries with hints of lemon peel, violets, walnuts and dust. It’s medium-bodied with layers of compact red and blue fruit and firm tannins around it. It is still a little tight, with impressive tension and energy. Lingering, savory finish. From vineyards planted from 1982 through 2000. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSVibrant and delicately complex, with refined cherry and cranberry flavors that layer on accents of green tea and fresh forest floor, finishing with fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2031. 197 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard brings a more concentrated, serious feel and offers ripe mulberry and cherry fruit as well as scorched earth, graphite, and minerality, with nicely integrated oak. It’s medium-bodied, concentrated, and focused, with a beautiful mouthfeel. It needs 2-3 years in the cellar (you’d be forgiven for enjoying a bottle today) and will evolve nicely over the following decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDHibiscus, crisp red fruit, fennel pollen and lemon peel aromas make for a fresh and lively nose on this single-vineyard expression. The palate lands in broad fashion, with lush flavors of strawberry, more citrus and a pinch of pepper dust. Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard is bright and effusive. Crushed red berry fruit, flowers, dried herbs and a kiss of sweet French oak are nicely lifted. This racy, exuberant Pinot is quite the charmer. It, too, will benefit from a bit of cellaring.Vinous Media | 92 VMA flattering style, with a nice wave of plum sauce and blackberry preserves rolling through, flanked by singed toast, wood spice and licorice accents through the finish. Drink now through 2026. 643 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

Welcome to the dark side of the pinot noir force! Deep and dangerous with enormous concentration, this full-bodied pinot noir has stacks of damson-plum and blackberry fruit, but is also extraordinarily fresh and decisively dry. Enormously long, velvety finish in which violet, smoke and stony minerality are seamlessly interwoven. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.James Suckling | 97 JSMeaning "notebook" in French, the 2021 Pinot Noir Cahiers takes on more layers of lifted spices and ripe red fruit, with orange oil, white pepper, and sage. Medium to full-bodied, with rounded fruit on the mid-palate, fine tannins, and a good finish, it’s drinking well now, although it’s leaning toward its primary fruit. It will continue to improve over the next couple of years. Drink 2024-2034.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDI could fill a notebook with descriptions of this wine’s aromas. The list is longer, but aromas include marionberries, blackcurrants, beeswax, the saline of a fresh-shucked oyster and warm masala chai spices. The wine’s smooth texture, modest acidity and silky tannins match up with rose petal and raspberry flavors. Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

Like a majority of the Sojourn 2021 Pinot Noirs, the Gap’s Crown is also aged in 50% new French oak but sees approximately 15% whole cluster during fermentation. This Pinot Noir is always one of my favorites coming out of the Sonoma Coast, and the Sojourn 2021 is another beautiful example. A shimmering ruby-garnet core with a blueish rim in the glass, it assembles bountiful notes of dark cherry compote, fresh black raspberry, spiced blue plum skin, brown mushroom, salty sea breeze, liquid chocolate, and hints of dried lemongrass. Complex, engaging, and downright delicious, this should be a wine that everyone should seek out to try. 1025 cases were produced. Better in 2023 and then enjoy for the next 12–15 years. Highly recommended and editor’s choice.International Wine Report | 97 IWRThe 2021 Pinot Noir Gap’s Crown Vineyard brings forward significantly more freshness and outstanding purity, with notes of ripe black cherry, scorched earth, and crushed violets that move seamlessly to a full-bodied palate with a satin texture, fine tannins, and notes of ripe wild raspberry, pressed herbs, and baking spices. With a pleasing freshness on the finish, this is a very attractive wine to drink over the next 8-10 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDLots of sliced strawberry and hibiscus with some sea salt here, but not overpowering. The palate is firm and racy with sleek and energetic tannins that run the length of the wine. Fresh and crisp with a citrus undertone at the end. Drinkable but better in a year or two.James Suckling | 93 JSDelivers a lovely, pure streak of pomegranate, damson plum and cherry fruit, gilded with light floral and savory notes and tinged with a mineral edge through the finish. Shows a nice racy feel from start to finish. Drink now through 2030. 1,025 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Juicy and engaging, with heavy mulled raspberry and blood orange flavors coursing through, carried by a bright mineral edge and a flurry of red tea and savory notes. The long, lingering finish has nice latent tension. Drink now through 2030. 2,600 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSWell balanced, tangy and lightly tannic, this lively wine will be versatile in food pairings. Its red cherry and dried cranberry notes are delicious and appetizing, while the influence of new French barrels stays nicely subtle.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEA fresh and crunchy pinot with lovely cherry, hibiscus and light orange peel character with hints of earth and cedar. Medium body. Fine tannins and a delicious finish. Delicate is the word. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 92 JS

The 2021 Pinot Noir The South Slope Vineyard is a classic Steven Hansel wine. A rush of dark cherry, plum lavender, rose petal and licorice are all dialed up. This boisterous, exuberant Pinot Noir has a ton of character. Plush contours wrap it all together in style. The 2021 will be nearly impossible to resist on release. What a knock-out!Vinous Media | 96 VMThe 2021 Pinot Noir The South Slope Vineyard takes on a notably darker profile, and assuming its name is derived from the exposition of this vineyard, that comes as no surprise. Pouring a dark red/purple hue, in the glass it reveals more warmth and depth, with aromas of blackberry, pine sap, porcini, and violets. The palate is full-bodied, with more hearty richness, a meaty texture, and a rounded frame. With ripe tannins and a more grounded sensibility, it carries an earthier profile and retains a stamp of toastiness on the finish. Though I prefer the energy of the North Slope, this will certainly be a wine that Russian River Valley fans can embrace for a richer style. Drink 2024-2030.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JD