Home
: 2016 Dragonette Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

2016 Dragonette Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

SKU #1392702 94 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark Though this winery's single-vineyard expressions are awesome, this appellation blend is also a strong choice. Intense aromas of tart pomegranate, cinnamon, sumac and turned soil lead into a smooth, fresh and high-toned palate of rhubarb and French toast flavors. *Editors' Choice* (MK) Inner quote mark (3/2019)

93 points Decanter

Outer quote mark Dragonette Cellars’ Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir blend is sourced primarily from Bentrock, John Sebastiano and La Encantada, aged for 16 months in 10% new French oak, and almost completely de-stemmed. Cinnamon toast, black cherry and metallic aromas on the nose lead to black raspberry compote and allspice flavours on the palate. Dragonette always seems to harness a somewhat riper style with taste and class, as evidenced by this excellent entry into Sta. Rta Hills Pinot Noir. (ML) Inner quote mark (8/2019)

93 points Jeb Dunnuck

Outer quote mark Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills comes from a mix of sites in the Sta. Rita Hills, was mostly destemmed and spent 16 months in 10% new French oak. It’s classic Sta. Rita Hills Pinot, offering loads of spice cherry and blackberry fruits, plenty of background earthy minerality and salinity, some herbs, stemmy notes, medium body, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's worth seeking out and a great example of the quality coming from this producer. Inner quote mark (10/2019)

93 points Vinous

Outer quote mark The 2016 Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills) is a gorgeous appellation-level wine from Dragonette. Rose petal, lavender, mint, spice and sweet red/purplish berry fruit are all finely knit. More than anything else, the Sta. Rita Hills is a wine of pure and total finesse. I especially like the wine's translucence and energy. Vineyard sources are Bentrock, Radian, La Encantada, Cargasacchi, Spear, Fiddlestix, and John Sebastiano. The 2016 punches well above its weight. Don't miss it. (AG) Inner quote mark (9/2019)

91 points Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark This glides across the palate with a mix of dried rose petal, cherry tart and red plum flavors that are well-spiced. Sandalwood and forest floor notes show on the broad finish. (KM) Inner quote mark (4/2019)

90 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark Medium ruby, the 2016 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is scented of spiced blackberries, cranberry, Bing cherry, pipe tobacco, woodsmoke and underbrush plus loads of earthy accents. The light to medium-bodied palate has an earthy profile, a sturdy frame of grainy tannins and great freshness on the finish. (EB) Inner quote mark (9/2019)

Connoisseurs Guide

Outer quote mark Backing away from boldness but showing a good deal of tart cherry and raspberry fruit with light notes of dried flowers and gentle oak in both scent and taste, this mannerly middleweight scores well for balance and its pleasantly rounded palatal feel. It is never a big wine, but it is nicely sustained with a persistently fruity finish, and, from beginning to end, it maintains very keen varietal focus. *One Star* Inner quote mark (5/2019)

Share |

2016 Dragonette Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Price: $39.99

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.