From our mountain vineyard that overlooks the Sonoma Coast in the Fort Ross-Seaview American Viticultural Area, Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery produces limited quantities of single vineyard, Estate grown, cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinotage. With spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean less than one mile away, the vineyard is divided into 32 separate blocks, one-half to two acres in size, that range in elevation from 1700 down to 1200 feet above sea level. Owners, Lester and Linda Schwartz with their small crew began preparing the 52 acre vineyard in 1994. It took them 4 years of preparation before they could begin planting. The year 2000 marked the first vintage from the Fort Ross Vineyard.

94 Points, Year's Best US Pinot Noir (2021) - Wine & Spirits
Jeff Pisoni makes this wine for Lester and Linda Schwartz, at the 52-acre vineyard they planted in the 1990s. The elevations range from 1,200 to 1,700 feet on a ridge one mile from the Pacific, the kind of marginal site that excelled in the long, cool vintage of 2018, a season without heat spikes. The cold of the coast and the warmth of the sun generated a pinot noir with transparent red berry flavors and mineral brilliance to the darker tannins, their edges seeming to glint with facets of fruit complexity, reflecting black currants at the underside of ripeness against the brighter, zesty red-fruit flavor. Delicious now with duck rillettes, this is also suited to cellar time. - Joshua Greene

92 Points - Wine Spectator
Intensely fruity and well-structured, with cherry tart, raspberry and wild plum flavors that are filled with minerally freshness. Lithe finish has hints of licorice and slate. Drink now through 2025. - Kim Marcus

92 Points - Wine Enthusiast
October 2022. 

★★★★★ - Restaurant Wine, Ronn Wiegand MS/MW
The 2018 Pinot Noir is outstanding: full bodied, intensely flavored (blueberry, raspberry, rose petal, cherry, black tea, white pepper, clove, oak), lightly tannic, and very long on the finish. Warrants further aging. Great value.