2021 Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard

Dark and resinous, there’s a more warming nature to the 2021 Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard, with pine sap, black cherry, licorice, and fresh flowers, and on the palate, this full-bodied Pinot Noir is flush with wild raspberry preserve, sweet earth, and lavender. With juicy fruit and ripe earth, this is pure hedonistic pleasure to drink over the next 15 or so years. This wine is fantastic all around. Owned by Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh and based in Calistoga, Rivers Marie specializes in single varietal, single vineyard expressions of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. One of Sonoma's most prolific winemakers and consultants, Thomas Rivers Brown grew up in South Carolina and later went on to work at Turley before carving his own path forward. I met with Thomas and Will Segui, the assistant winemaker, at the Calistoga winery this May to taste the wines for this report. Having been hit incredibly hard in 2020, their 2021s are showing even better than I could have anticipated from last year’s barrel samples. These are some of the best wines I have ever tasted from Rivers Marie, with exceptional balance and finesse.