RESTAURANT WINE®’S EVALUATION SYSTEM QUALITY ratings are:
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL quality for its type and style; a superstar within its price category. Merits an extra special effort to purchase. Very highly recommended.
★★★★ EXCELLENT quality for its type, style, and price. Among the very best of its type for its price. Highly recommended.
★★★ VERY GOOD quality for its type, style, and price. Has distinctive character and positive attributes. Recommended.
August 2014
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR ROSE 2013, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
Medium full reddish pink. Very fine quality: supple, rich, and balanced; a wine with strawberry jam, watermelon, cherry, peach, rosehips, and grapefruit aromas/flavors, and a long, harmonious finish. Terrific quality and value. Aged 3 months in older French oak barrels. 375 cases. 13.5% [2014-2016]
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
★★★★½ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
These are refined, elegant Pinots. The standard bottling is rich and ripely flavored; a full bodied, complex, lightly tannic wine, with good balance, and a firm, long finish. In aroma/flavor, it tastes of cherry, raspberry, plum jam, juniper, toast, nutmeg, and cooked beef. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 35% new. Unfined, unfiltered. 973 cases. 14.5%.
The Reserve is more subtle and refined, with full body, good balance, a long flavor evolution on the palate, and a persistent finish, tasting of rosehips, cherry, raspberry, vanilla, toast, and oak. 14.5% [2014-2016]
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR SEA SLOPES 2012, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
Elegantly flavored (strawberry, cherry, raspberry, with vanilla and oak), full bodied, and balanced; a Pinot Noir with very good balance and a long finish. Excellent quality. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 4% new. Unfined, unfiltered. 2,038 cases. 13.8% [2014-2016]
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOTAGE 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
Rich and supple in style, this is a distinctly flavored Pinotage (plum jam, cooked meat, rhubarb, herbs), with overtones of vanilla, toast, and oak. Very long finish. Excellent. 13.5% [2014-2016]
December 2012
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR SEA SLOPES 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Exceptional: very aromatic in character, full bodied, and complex in flavor (plum, rosehips, spicy oak, toast, cherry), this wine has a long palate evolution and a persistent finish. Very fine quality. Needs a bit of aging. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 24% new. Unfined, unfiltered. 924 cases. [2013-2015]
July 2012
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2009, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Subtle and elegant.... The Reserve is outstanding: a rich, full bodied wine with supple texture, light tannin, and a long finish, tasting of plum, raspberry, toast, rosehips, and spicy oak. Very fine quality. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 40% new. 303 cases.
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR SYMPOSIUM 2009, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Excellent - a supple, ripely flavored, full bodied style. It is lightly oaked, well balanced, & long on the finish, tasting of plum, cassis, toast, nutmeg, and spicy oak. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 25% new. 3% Pinotage. 515 cases.
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: CHARDONNAY 2009, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Elegantly flavored... slightly fuller (than 2010); an exceptional wine: full bodied, complex in flavor, and long on the palate, reminiscent of a medium rich white Burgundy (Cote de Beaune). It tastes of apple, lemon peel, baked bread, vanilla, and spicy oak. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 30% new. 863 cases.
★★★★½ EXCELLENT: CHARDONNAY 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Elegantly flavored... Crisp Chardonnay, with full body, moderate richness, and a long, crisp finish, tasting of apple, lemon peel, grapefruit, toast, and roasted nut.
★★★★½ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR SEA SLOPES 2009, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Excellent - The Sea Slopes bottling is fragrant and full bodied, with fine character (red currant, plum, rose petal) and overtones of toast, and modest oak. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 20% new. 809 cases.
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR 2009, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Subtle, elegant... fleshy and ripely flavored; a well balanced wine with red currant, plum, kola nut, toast, and spicy oak aromas/flavors. Medium long, lightly tannic finish. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 30% new.
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR BICENTENNIAL 2010, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Subtle and elegant... The Bicentennial (celebrating the founding of Fort Ross in 1812) is a bit more floral in character and also more complex. It is full bodied, moderately rich, and well balanced, with a persistent finish, tasting of rosehips, strawberry, red currant, plum, toast, and orange. Aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 40% new. 199 cases.
February 2009
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOTAGE 2006, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
A supple, distinct, relatively refined Pinotage, with excellent balance and length. It is velvety in texture, finely flavored (black cherry, black licorice, roasted nut, vanilla, spicy oak), and very long on the finish.
★★★★½ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2005, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Burgundy-like, in the best sense: supple, complex in character, and long and persistent on the finish; very fine quality. It tastes of plum, orange peel, baked cherry, clove, and spicy oak.
★★★★½ EXCELLENT: Rosé of PINOT NOIR 2007, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Medium pink purple color. Delicately flavored (plum, watermelon, rose petal), full bodied, dry, and long on the palate, with a finish that echoes fruit and clove.
★★★★ EXCELLENT: CHARDONNAY 2006, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Finely flavored, full bodied and Burgundy-like (delicate, complex); supple in texture, long on finish, and subtle in character. It tastes of baked pear, lemon zest, vanilla, roasted nut, and baked bread.
May 2006
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2002, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
The RESERVE is fine and complex in style; a full bodied, crisp Pinot Noir, with a long persistent finish. It tastes of cherry, blueberry, tobacco, toast, and vanilla. Not far in style from fine red burgundy. Both are unfined and unfiltered [2007-2009]
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2001, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
The Reserve is richer and more opulent, but with a similar sense of restraint. It is full bodied and very complex in style; a wine with intense character, layers of flavor (plum, toasted oak, tobacco, humus, and red current). Long finish. More like a fine premier cru bottling. Unfined, unfiltered. [2005-2008]
★★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL: PINOTAGE 2002, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Exceptional Pinotage, in a Pinot Noir-like style (supple, aromatic, complex): it is full bodied, intensely flavored, and very long on the palate, with a crisp finish. It tastes of vanilla, plum, tobacco, blueberry, and black licorice. Unfined, unfiltered. [2006-2007]
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR 2002, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Uniquely styled wines from this coastal vineyard. The standard bottling is aromatic and very distinct; a full bodied, finely flavored wine, with a crisp finish. It tastes of blueberry, cherry, red currant, toast, ginger, and vanilla.
★★★★ EXCELLENT: PINOT NOIR 2001, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
FIRST RELEASE. Both wines have a distinctively Burgundian profile, in the best sense (restraint and complexity). The standard bottling tastes like an excellent single vineyard bottling from a leading Burgundy producer: it is medium full in weight, long on the palate, and tastes of tobacco, toast, spicy oak, plum, and red currant.
★★★★ EXCELLENT: CHARDONNAY 2002, Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Softly textured and full bodied, a wine with restrained fruitiness, modest new oak character, and medium length. An understated yet rich wine. Unfined, unfiltered.