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: 2017 Racines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

2017 Racines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir (Previously $60)

SKU #1479361 92 points Decanter

Outer quote mark The 2017 Racines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir was aged in 20% new French oak for 18 months, and around a third whole cluster fermentation was used. The savoury nose shows notes of candlewax, bubblegum and dried flowers. The palate is bright and clean, and finishes on a floral note with flavours of cherry blossoms and wet rose petals. A solid introduction to this collaborative label from Justin Willett and Etienne de Montille. Drinking Window 2019 - 2029 (ML) Inner quote mark (7/2019)

92 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir has lovely aromas of orange peel, cranberry, rhubarb and mixed berry preserves with dust, sagebrush, tobacco, tea leaf and floral notes. It has a light to medium weight with intense spiced berry flavors, dusty tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long and spicy. This was bottled a week before I tasted it but is showing well. Racines is a brand-new project from Justin Willett, co-founder of Lieu Dit, with Étienne de Montille of Domaine de Montille in Burgundy and Rodolphe Péters of Pierre Péters in Champagne. (EB) Inner quote mark (9/2019)

91 points Vinous

Outer quote mark The 2017 Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills) is bold, punchy and super-expressive, with lovely aromatic nuance to play off the dark cherry and plum fruit. Classy and layered, the appellation Pinot is a wine of real character and breeding. Then again, that is not surprising given that vineyard sites are La Encantada, Sanford & Benedict, La Rinconada and Bentrock. The 2017 is a gorgeous wine from Etienne De Montille and Justin Willett. (AG) Inner quote mark (9/2019)

K&L Notes

Winery notes: "Racines is a collaboration between four great voices of wine. Justin Willett of Lieu Dit and Tyler has been joined in his home appellation, the Sta. Rita Hills, by Étienne de Montille and Brian Sieve of Domaine de Montille and Rodolphe Péters of Pierre Péters. Together, they are marrying the time-honored techniques of Burgundy and Champagne with the pioneering energy of California - and, in the process, they are rediscovering the nuances of the appellation’s most iconic vineyards. New cooperage and custom vats, tailored to Étienne’s technique, have been imported. The Pinots are composed using further stem inclusion, more extraction, and longer vatting."

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2017 Racines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Price: Hidden

DC: 92

RP: 92

VN: 91

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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.