Eden Rift Pinot Noir Estate Cienega Valley 2019
96 POINTS! How’s that for an encore from former CALERA winemaker Cory Waller? This is just SILLY good pinot – even at the full retail…but at OUR price? UNBEATABLE!
EDEN RIFT, good people! This is a new project, from an OLD vineyard (California’s oldest continually farmed vineyard – 1849!!!) headed up by a winemaker at the very PEAK of his powers. If you LOVE Calera or loved them before they sold to Duckhorn, or just love epic Cali-coastal pinot noir – then this is your CHANCE! Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way to your cart…before Patches O’Houlihan gives you the wrench treatment for missing out! I’ve locked in a case – this is one you simply don’t want to MISS!
$48 at the winery is just GONZO for this – easily competes with pinots TWICE this price – but our dizzying, completely disorienting price of ONLY $25?!?! That’s a whole new level of insanity. The juice? JAMMING! Deep and floral, with rose petals, cranberry, rooibos tea…just SEXY as all get out in that classic cool-climate Cali-coastal pinot style. This beauty is ho-ho-hopping with Christmas spice notes of clove, and cinnamon, nutmeg, dried cherries, orange peel…and…AND! Soft and silky, too – but it glides across the tongue with enough warmth you just might imagine you’re next to a crackling fire with Nat King Cole humming away in the background. It’s a VIBE – fo’ sho’! Don’t let the delicate color and gentile demeanor (like a proper Belle of the South) fool ya – we’ve got some sass, spice, and bless-your-heart persistence here! Crazy long finish, too – giving those Damson plum and blackberry flavors, with even a touch of dusty mocha on the finish. I drained my glass in three gulps, then went back for more. You saw the 96 POINTS from the good folks at Wine Enthusiast, right? California’s oldest vineyard? Calera’s former winemaker? What MORE do you want?! Go, go, GOOOOOO!!!
** The Eden Rift Estate is 125 acres in a valley tucked just under a mountain range, a stone’s throw from the Pacific, just outside of Monterey, and right on top of the San Andreas Fault. Mt. Eden, Swan, and Calera heritage clones, as well as some Pommard (clone 4) and a smattering of Dijon clones…this is straight Pinot Shangri La! **
Cory Waller was the winemaker at Calera for years, and if that isn’t the perfect pedigree for making top-notch, long-lived chardonnay and pinot noir here in California – I don’t know what is!
Technical Details
Country: United StatesRegion: California
Appellation: San Benito County
Blend: Dijon clones 115, 828 & 777
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Winemaker: Cory Waller
Aging/Cooperage: 10 months in French oak (30% new oak)
Alcohol: 13.9
About The Producer
“Located just 20 miles from the Monterey Bay, Eden Rift is the oldest continually producing vineyard in California. Planted in 1849 by Theophile Vache, the 120-acre estate rests on the San Andreas Faultline and is part of the Cienega Valley AVA. The winery is located just two miles from famed Pinot Noir producer Calera, whose founder Josh Jensen sought out the limestone and dolomite-rich soils. Before Josh, early vintners procured some of the first Pinot Noir planting in California at Eden Rift beginning in 1860. Post prohibition, the focus on Pinot Noir & Chardonnay was lost until Christian Pillsbury acquired the estate in 2016. Christian assembled a team of young industry professionals starting with winemaker Cory Waller to once again create some of California’s most vivid energetic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The extreme terraces and diverse terroir in a single contiguous valley make California’s oldest estate vineyard its most exciting new project.”
Pairing Suggestions
B.L.T. with bacon-fat mayo on herb focaccia
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