Rating:
94
Wine Enthusiast
"A brilliant Pinot Noir, grown organically from the winery's new vineyard in a cool part of the coastal mountains. More tannic and acidic than Pinots from the estate vineyard in Green Valley, it offers lush, deep flavors of cherries, black raspberries, gingersnap cookies and almond biscotti. Just terrific, and will take a few years of bottle age in a cool cellar."
Product Description:
"Vineyard Name: After family matriarch, Margarita Riera de Torres.
Location: Sonoma Coast Appellation of Origin, on the Bohemian Highway, between Freestone and Occidental - seven miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Climate: Very cool microclimate, classified as Region 1. The ocean fog provides cool nights, but days are warm as the vineyard is usually above the fog line.
Exposure: Long stretch of gently sloping topography, facing southwest.
Vineyard Altitude: 625 feet at highest elevation, 435 feet at lowest (275 feet at bottom of property).
Total Property: 180 acres (about 60 acres plantable).
Current and Future Planting: 12 acres in 2002 and 8 acres in 2008.
Pinot Noir Clones Planted: Seven acres Pommard, five acres Dijon 115 in original planting. Four acres Pommard, four acres Dijon 667 added in 2008.
Rootstock: 101-14, of low vigor and ideal for sandy loam soils.
Density of Planting: 1 x 1.8 meters (3.28 feet x 6 feet) = 2,340 vines/acre.
Soils: Perfect combination of a thin layer of sandy loam (Goldridge series) of volcanic origin and marine sediment over fractured Sandstone subsoil. Sandstone, a formation from an ancient seabed, has the ability to hold moisture because of its porosity but still imparts superb drainage, ideal for Pinot Noir.
Wildlife: The property is home to an abundance of wildlife, including coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, deer, wild turkeys, jack rabbits, eagles, and red tail hawks.
Trees: Several acres of a conservation easement will remain wild and protected from any development. Species include groves of redwood, fir, oak, madrone, pine and bay. The estate has hundreds of redwoods amidst a wild forest that will remain untouched; the vineyard has been laid out with ecological sensitivity, bordering the beautiful trees.
Watershed: Several creeks throughout the property feed into the Salmon Creek -- which eventually empties in the Pacific Ocean -- home to steelhead and other species of fish.
Landscape: The rugged terrain of Sonoma's West County, with its gullies, gorges, creeks and meadows, provides some of the most unique scenery in the world. And from the top of the vineyard, there is a spectacular view over this classic landscape of California wilderness." - Winery
