Tasting Notes
The wine is brimming with freshness: fresh picked wildflowers and fresh fruits, plum, strawberry and cherry notes dance above the glass. This wine is equally exciting on the palate, with sweet tannins, and an underlying acid-driven energy framing the lush red berry, blood orange nectar and marzipan flavors. Though there is an idyllic youthful bloom to this captivating wine that makes it hard to resist now, it promises a long, fascinating evolution.

Vineyard Notes
Emeritus Vineyards was founded in 1999 by legendary vintner Brice Cutrer Jones when he acquired the Hallberg Ranch after selling his first winery, Sonoma-Cutrer. The site has a significant marine influence and regular diurnal temperature swings of 40˚F. There are eleven clones planted on the site, including two field selections from iconic vineyards in the Côte de Nuits. Because the vineyard has been dry farmed since 2011, the roots of the vines can reach depths of 20 feet or more in search of water stored in the clay subsoil. Dry farming allows the grapes to achieve exceptional physiological ripeness at lower sugar levels, while retaining the acidity that is essential to great Pinot Noir.

Vintage Notes
With perfect weather during budbreak and bloom, the 2018 vintage at Hallberg Ranch yielded a robust crop and deliciously fruitful wines. Winter saw average rainfall setting the vines up for vigorous growth. The fruit was able to slowly mature during the cool summer. Though the crop was larger than average in Sonoma County, because of our dry farming practices, and the vines’ deep roots, the grapes retained lovely freshness, while offering depth and intensity.

92 Points Wine Enthusiast – “Sourced from the producer’s Hallberg Ranch and Pinot Hill, both brimming in classic Goldridge soils, this impressive red is juicy and stemmy, a mix of earth and fresh cherry and raspberry. Black tea, forest floor and a memorable hint of white pepper combine to make it complex, elegant and delicious.”