Lot Overview
- Region: Russian River Valley (Green Valley sub-AVA)
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir (single vineyard)
- Alcohol: 14%
- Oak Aging: 40–50% new French oak, medium toast
- TA / pH: 5.36 g/L TA, 3.5 pH
- Lactic: 1.16 g/L
- Cases Available: ~300
- Cam Price: ~$11.50/bottle ($139/case)
- Retail Estimate: $75–$95/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: Hallberg Ranch, Green Valley of Russian River Valley (through Gary Farrell or a comparable Hallberg producer)
- Wine Berserkers Guess: No consensus
- Drink Window: 2025–2034 (peak 2027–2031)
Cameron’s Release Notes
I am excited to announce our first Russian River Pinot Noir is now live!
CAM X Lot 58 2024 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is one absolutely beautiful Russian River Pinot Noir and I believe the best Pinot we have bottled to date.
The combination of complex, lifted aromatics, robust-yet-perfectly-balanced structure, and exceptional purity makes for an incredibly compelling and supremely elegant Pinot Noir. Here I am five minutes after my last sip of this wine and I can still taste notes of the raspberry and Earl Grey tea in the finish — truly fantastic!
Normally selling as a single-vineyard designate in the $75–$95/bottle range (sorry, tight NDA, need to be vague so you’ll just have to trust me on this one) with multiple mid-90’s scores and grown in the legendary Goldridge soils of the Green Valley of the Russian River Valley, Lot 58 can now be yours for just $139/case!
This is a don’t miss for Pinot Lovers!
More good news, I bought the entire 2024 production so you have a couple hundred cases to shoot at… the bad news is our wholesale business is picking up considerably so this may or may not make it to the Bottle Collection. As such, I advise you to grab this now.
Tasting Notes
Deep pink, pale ruby in the glass, super pretty and vibrant. Gorgeous, lifted aromas of raspberry, super pure Rainier cherry, rose petal, clove and Earl Grey tea notes mingle with a kiss of truffle. The 40–50% new French oak is remarkably well integrated here maintaining the aromatic purity and elegance. Fantastic winemaking is clearly evident — the winemaker is extremely well-regarded in the cool-climate Pinot and Syrah realm. Supple on entry yet, for all its purity, the wine is remarkably robust on the palate with plenty of structure and fortitude. Notes of cranberry, raspberry and allspice conspire with crunchy acidity and silky tannins that echo through a long finish of pretty and pure raspberry and Earl Grey notes for several minutes.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status
Recently bottled. Allow 60–90 days before opening. Best from Fall 2025.
Claude’s Source Guess: Hallberg Ranch, Green Valley of Russian River Valley — most likely through Gary Farrell (Dijon Clones bottling) or a comparable Hallberg producer
Cam locks in three very specific clues that together point almost directly at one vineyard: Goldridge soils, Green Valley of the Russian River Valley sub-AVA, and a single-vineyard designate selling in the $75–$95 range with multiple mid-90s scores. That profile fits Hallberg Ranch almost perfectly. It’s the defining vineyard of Green Valley — 110+ dry-farmed acres on a Goldridge loam ridgetop that has been producing cult-level Pinot Noir since its first vintage in 2004 and is sourced by Gary Farrell, Emeritus, Scherrer, Etude, Martin Ray, and others.
The winemaker clue is the other key data point. Cam says the winemaker is “extremely well-regarded in the cool-climate Pinot and Syrah realm.” Of all the Hallberg producers, Gary Farrell’s current winemaking team fits this best — their portfolio is built entirely on cool-climate Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the Hallberg Dijon Clones bottling retails at $75, dead center of Cam’s stated range. The Wine Enthusiast tasting notes for Gary Farrell’s Hallberg actually use “Darjeeling” to describe the tea note on the finish — which maps directly to Cam’s “Earl Grey” descriptor. That’s a very difficult coincidence to dismiss.
The flavor profile also lines up cleanly: raspberry, Rainier cherry, rose petal, clove, Earl Grey tea, truffle, cranberry — this is the classic Green Valley/Hallberg expression. Pale ruby with pink hues, crunchy acidity, silky tannins — that’s Goldridge Pinot from a cool fog-heavy site, not a warmer Russian River floor expression.
Radio-Coteau (Eric Sussman) is worth a mention as an alternative — he’s one of the most respected cool-climate Pinot and Syrah specialists in the entire north coast, works Goldridge sites in the Occidental/Green Valley corridor, and his single-vineyard Pinots hit mid-90s regularly. His pricing ($60–$75) slightly undershoots Cam’s stated range, but if Cam is being vague on price the way he says he’s being vague on vineyard, Sussman fits the winemaker clue as well as anyone.
✅ Confidence: High on Hallberg Ranch as the source vineyard; medium-high on Gary Farrell as the producer given the price match and the Darjeeling/Earl Grey tea note alignment.
Drink Window
Early Enjoyment: Fall 2025, once bottle shock resolves — pure red fruit and florals will dominate.
Peak Drinking: 2027–2031, when the 40–50% new oak integrates and the structure softens into a seamless package.
Hold Potential: 2034 with proper cellaring. The low lactic (1.16 g/L) suggests partial ML, meaning there’s still some fresh malic backbone supporting long-term aging alongside the tannin structure.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2025–2034 (peak 2027–2031)