2019 Heritage Horizontal 4-Pack
For this set, we've selected our Classic and a Cuvée of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir from the highly regarded 2019 vintage. These heritage selections highlight the great care that Lester & Linda Schwartz used in selecting a range of clones that would thrive on the wild Sonoma Coast.
2019 CHARDONNAY
94 Points - Wine Enthusiast
Review coming November 2022.
92 Points - Wine Spectator
A refined and open-textured style, with spicy richness to the cream-filled white fruit flavors. Pastry accents midpalate lead to buttery notes on the fresh and engaging finish. Drink now through 2025.
92 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Next up, the 2019 Chardonnay Fort Ross Vineyard showed beautifully, with a clean, crystalline, yet rich, medium-bodied style that delivers beautiful crushed citrus, lemon, white flower, green almond, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. With plenty of density on the palate, it stays remarkably well-balanced and has a great spine of acidity as well as a clean finish. Relatively tight and holding things close to its vest, it will benefit from a year or two of bottle age, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it still drinking brilliantly at age 10.
★★★★ - The Press Democrat
A chardonnay with great structure and layered flavors. Aromas and flavors of melon, Meyer lemon, hazelnut and a hint of toffee. While weighty, its mineral notes give it lift. Balanced, yet it has a rich note of caramel in its lingering finish. - Peg Melnik, April 2022
★★★★ Restaurant Wine, Ronn Wiegand MS/MW
Full bodied and supple, with subtle, complex flavors (pear, white peach, pineapple, toast, candied lemon, oak), good balance, and a medium long finish. Can develop further.
2019 MOTHER OF PEARL CHARDONNAY
94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Chardonnay Mother Of Pearl is a smaller selection from the Fort Ross Vineyard, which is located in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, a smaller appellation on the northern Sonoma Coast. It’s certainly the richest of the Chardonnays from this estate, yet it stays firmly planted in the fresher, more elegant, mineral-laced style of the estate. Beautiful stone fruits, white flowers, toasted brioche, and subtle background oak all give way to a medium-bodied, vibrant, incredibly pure Chardonnay with a good spine of acidity and outstanding length. It’s already drinking nicely, yet I have no doubt this is another impressive Chardonnay from this estate that will evolve for a good 8-10 years.
★★★★+ Restaurant Wine, Ronn Wiegand MS/MW
The Mother of Pearl is an elegant, complex wine of fine quality. It has a clear appearance (not brilliant), and is a richer, somewhat toastier wine, with peach, roasted nut, pineapple, lemon, and oak flavors, and a long finish. Excellent; can be aged a bit.
90 Points - Wine Enthusiast
Review coming November 2022.
2019 PINOT NOIR
94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of sous bois, sappy herbs, green flowers, and assorted red and slightly darker berry fruits emerge from the 2019 Pinot Noir Fort Ross Vineyard. A medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, balanced Pinot, this is one of the richer, more concentrated wines in the lineup. I like it today, yet I suspect it will develop additional complexity with another year or two of bottle age, and it should have a long life of 10-12 years, if not more.
"9 Stellar West Coast Pinot Noirs to Drink Right Now" - The Robb Report
For this Pinot Noir winemaker Jeff Pisoni chooses grapes grown in single vineyards less than one mile from the Pacific Ocean. His Fort Ross Vineyard Pinot Noir has aromas and flavors of red cherry and cranberry with a touch of Oolong tea and brown baking spices in the back palate. It has rich mouthfeel with silky tannins and a smooth finish.
2019 STAGECOACH ROAD PINOT NOIR
94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Last of the Pinot Noirs, the 2019 Pinot Noir Stagecoach Road is another Pinot Noir sourced entirely from the estate Fort Ross Vineyard in the northern part of the Sonoma Coast. Possibly my favorite in the lineup, it’s wonderfully complete and has a lovely assortment of red and black fruits as well as foresty, earthy, spicy, and subtle herbal notes that carry to a medium-bodied, flawlessly balanced Pinot Noir. With a solid underpinning of acidity, ripe yet building tannins, and a great finish, I like it today, but smart money is on it benefiting from a year or two of bottle age and easily evolving through 2032. This is another terrific effort from this estate with loads of character.
★★★★★ Restaurant Wine, Ronn Wiegand MS/MW
The 2019 Stagecoach Road Pinot Noir is exceptional: supple in texture, full bodied, and moderately rich in flavor (raspberry, strawberry jam, cherry, black tea, toast, oak), with excellent balance and a very persistent finish. Delicious. Can be aged further.