🏷️ Lot Overview
Region: Sonoma Coast
Vintage: 2024
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir (66% Petaluma Gap, 33% Fort Ross-Seaview AVA)
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Likely Ernest Vineyards or Red Car (Alt: Peay)
Wine Berserkers Guess: Fort Ross + Patz & Hall
Alcohol: 14.2%
Oak Aging: ~50% new French oak (mix of 60% in Petaluma Gap portion, 35% in Fort Ross-Seaview)
Cam Price: $8.25 ($99/case)
Retail Estimate: $55–$75
Drink Window: 2025–2029
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
Email
Lot 35 is a 2024 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir assembled from two different single-vineyard programs: a $75/bottle Petaluma Gap Pinot (60% new French oak, Remond/Francois Frères/Rousseau) and a $55/bottle Fort Ross-Seaview Pinot (35% new oak). Both were excess barrels being cleared before harvest, and Cam and Katie crafted the final blend. Bottled August 21, it’s already drinking fantastically just 5 weeks later.
At $99/case delivered, this is an unprecedented QPR: true $60 Pinot bottled at a fraction of market price.
Website/Tasting Notes
Medium ruby with a vibrant magenta sheen. Bright and expressive bouquet of cherry, raspberry, and strawberry framed by black tea, rose petals, cardamom, and tobacco leaf, with a dark cherry/mocha/red clay underpinning.
Supple and juicy on entry with vibrant raspberry and cherry carried by perfect oak integration—elevating fruit rather than dominating. Seamless and energetic across the palate with elegant structure, long persistence, and 90+ seconds of finish. Juicy, balanced, and already complex.
- 100% Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
- 66% Petaluma Gap / 33% Fort Ross-Seaview
- ~50% new French oak
- 14.2% alc.
- ~300 cases producedLot 35
🧠ChatGPT says
🔍 Source Guess: Most likely Ernest Vineyards or Red Car Winery (alt: Peay Vineyards)
🧾 Rationale:
- Program Blend: Cam says this is 62% from a $75 program and 38% from a $55 program, both single-vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinots. This mirrors Ernest’s and Red Car’s models—both operate multiple vineyard designates across Petaluma Gap and Fort Ross-Seaview.
- Style Alignment: The tasting notes emphasize minerality, energy, black tea, florals, and seamless oak lift—hallmarks of Ernest and Peay, and a strong fit for Red Car’s lean, acid-driven style.
- Price Tier: $55–$75 single-vineyard Pinots are right in Ernest’s and Red Car’s wheelhouse. Flowers and Littorai skew higher; Failla overlaps but usually retails in the $40–$60 range.
- Volume: 300 cases is exactly the sort of “barrels cleared before harvest” scenario from a boutique, multi-vineyard Pinot house.
- Oak Program: The explicit coopers (Remond, Rousseau, Francois Frères) are Burgundian-focused, matching Ernest and Red Car’s stylistic DNA.
âś… Conclusion: Ernest Vineyards is the best match given AVA mix and stylistic precision, with Red Car a strong alternate and Peay a longshot based on smaller scale.
⏳ Drink Window
- Best Enjoyed: 2025–2027 (vibrant, zesty fruit expression)
- Peak Maturity: 2026–2027 (oak integration, complexity fully knit)
- Hold Potential: Through 2029, though freshness and vibrancy are key—beyond that fruit will soften.
🧑‍🤝‍🧑🍷 Wine Berserkers Guess: 33% Ft Ross Vineyard Estate, 66% Patz & Hall Gap’s Crown