2022 Hirsch Pinot Noir East Ridge

Pouring a saturated ruby hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir East Ridge is quite complete in this vintage. It offers a seamless and layered feel, with lush notes of cedar, grenadine, lavender, sage, and wet stones. It’s elegant and rounded, medium to full-bodied, with plush tannins, snappy, ripe acidity, and a long finish. They have been implementing more biodynamic and no-till farming, which has lowered yields at this site and attributes to the even concentration the wine expresses. It should continue to improve over the coming 5-6 years and drink its best over the coming 15 or more years. The current releases from Jasmine Hirsch include a first look at her 2023s, as well as the release of the 2022 single vineyard wines, which she holds back an additional year. While 2022 falls broadly into the category of a warm vintage for Sonoma, she notes that despite this being categorized as a vintage noted for its heat, they did not experience any notable heat until September. It never got above 92 degrees at Hirsch in August, and they had picked 70% of the fruit by Labor Day. (The peak was 108 degrees over Labor Day weekend.) For her, the yields were the defining factor in the concentration and density of the 2022 vintage.

The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate East Ridge is a wine of pure and total sensuality, amplified by the heat and drought of the year. Nearly seamless in the glass, the 2022 is so impressive. Ripe dark cherry/plum fruit, rose petal, blood orange and pomegranate confer tremendous character. Superb.