Home
: 2010 Foxen "Sea Smoke Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

2010 Foxen "Sea Smoke Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

SKU #1109403 96 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark This is the most expensive Pinot Noir Foxen has ever made, and guess what? It's also the winery's best. It bears rich flavors, offering tiers of smoky cherries, red currants, licorice candies, vanilla, sandalwood and spices. What's harder to describe is the sheer beauty of the texture and balance. Containing the explosive richness of a wine like this is a challenge, but winemaker Bill Wathan has managed to bring elegance to its power. The wine is high in alcohol, and it's not advisable to age it beyond 3 or 4 years, but it is incredibly delicious. Inner quote mark (11/2012)

93 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark One of the unquestioned highlights among these new releases, the 2010 Pinot Noir Sea Smoke Vineyard is beautifully layered from start to finish. Rich dark cherries, smoke, mocha, savory herbs and spices come to life in this multi-dimensional, stunning Pinot. There is a level of depth in the Sea Smoke that is flat-out breathtaking. The integration of fruit and oak is superb. I always look forward to tasting the Foxen wines, as they are loaded with class and personality across the board. (AG) Inner quote mark (8/2012)

92 points Int'l Wine Cellar

Outer quote mark Bright ruby-red. Raspberry preserves and cherry-cola on the highly perfumed nose. Offers an array of deep, sappy red and dark berry flavors that pick up spice and floral pastille qualities with air. Tannins come on late and fold smoothly into this wine's plush fruit. A rich yet lively Pinot with impressive finishing punch and clarity. (JR) Inner quote mark (11/2012)

92 points Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark Offers richness, depth, purity and focus, with depth and a range of flavors built around dark berry fruit. The most complete of the new Foxens. (JL) Inner quote mark (9/2012)

Share |

2010 Foxen "Sea Smoke Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Price: $59.99

Quantity:

Real Time Inventory by location:

The item you have chosen is not in stock in our retail stores or within our main warehouse.

Product turnaround time varies by location of inventory and your chosen method of shipping/pickup. For a detailed explanation click here.

Related Items

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Pinot Noir

- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year.

Specific Appellation:

Santa Maria/Santa Barbara

- Santa Maria and Santa Ynez make up the two AVAs of Santa Barbara County, an area known for its natural beauty and temperate climate. The best grape-growing areas, however, are located on the very coastal reaches of these two appellations, and are cooled by ever-present fog and ocean breezes (it is even cooler and foggier here than Carneros!). As expected, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive while the more inland zones lay claim to Bordeaux varietals and some Rhône blends.