Lot Overview
- Region: 100% Sonoma Coast — 66% Petaluma Gap, 33% Fort Ross-Seaview AVA
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
- Oak Aging: ~50% new French oak blended (60% Petaluma Gap component / 35% FRS component)
- Alcohol: 14.2%
- Cases Available: 300
- Cam Price: ~$8.25/bottle ($99/case)
- Retail Estimate: $55–75/bottle equivalent
- Claude’s Source Guess: Vaughn Duffy Wines (Petaluma Gap component) + Fort Ross Vineyard (Fort Ross-Seaview component)
- Wine Berserkers Guess: Fort Ross/Patz & Hall
- Drink Window: 2025–2031 (peak 2026–2029)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Lot 35 is a 2024 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir assembled from two different $55–75/bottle single-vineyard programs — one from the Petaluma Gap AVA, the other from Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. The Petaluma Gap Pinot has 60% new French oak from Remond, Francois Freres and Rousseau. The Fort Ross-Seaview sees a gentler touch of 35% new French oak. Like the Gewürztraminer offer, folks were eager to empty barrels prior to harvest — and we got an incredible deal.
Tasting Notes
Medium ruby with a vibrant magenta sheen. Bright and effusive with vibrant cherry, raspberry and strawberry haloed with black tea, tobacco leaf, cardamom and rose petals, with dark cherry, mocha and red clay underpinning just beginning to complex. Perfectly ripe and juicy on entry with great energy, pure raspberry and cherry fruit and a perfectly attenuated structure. Oak integration is perfect — elevating fruit rather than overpowering. Huge length with an elegant yet resounding 90-second finish.
✅ Bottle Shock Status: Bottled August 21st. Already drinking well with 5 weeks in bottle per Cam.
Claude’s Source Guess: Vaughn Duffy Wines (Petaluma Gap) + Fort Ross Vineyard / Jeff Pisoni (Fort Ross-Seaview)
The Petaluma Gap component carries the unmistakable fingerprint of Vaughn Duffy Wines — the exact same cooper trio of Remond, Francois Freres, and Rousseau at 60% new oak identified in Lot 20. Cam and Katie clearly maintain an ongoing supply relationship with Matt Duffy, drawing from his Petaluma Gap single-vineyard program across multiple lots. The $75 retail for Vaughn Duffy’s Petaluma Gap designates fits Cam’s “$55–75” range precisely.
The Fort Ross-Seaview component at 35% new oak and $55–75 retail points most strongly to Fort Ross Vineyard — the Schwartz family estate where winemaker Jeff Pisoni makes multiple single-block Pinots ranging from $55–75. Their 32 individual blocks produce varying expressions, and the “eager to empty barrels before harvest” language is consistent with a small estate operation looking to clear cellar space. Pisoni describes Fort Ross as “infinitely complex” with terroir-driven elegance — consistent with Cam’s tasting note of “tobacco leaf, cardamom, red clay underpinning.” Flowers (already a confirmed CAM X source for Lots 6 and 31) is an equally viable Fort Ross-Seaview alternative given their Sea View Ridge estate sits in that corridor.
✅ Confidence: High for Vaughn Duffy (Petaluma Gap) — same cooper fingerprint as Lot 20 is compelling. Medium-High for Fort Ross Vineyard (FRS component) — price tier, block structure, and pre-harvest timing all fit, with Flowers as a strong alternative.
Drink Window
Early: 2025 — Cam says it’s already drinking beautifully.
Peak: 2026–2029. 2024 vintage Sonoma Coast Pinot peaks 2–5 years from vintage.
Hold: 2031. The coastal structure and 14.2% alc give this solid medium-term aging.
My Call: ✅ Drink window: 2025–2031 (peak 2026–2029)