2016 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
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Tasting notes
Leading off the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is sourced from a handful of sites on the Sonoma Coast and offers plenty of dark fruits, ground herbs, violets, and bouquet garni-like aromas and flavors. It’s a rounded, supple 2016 that shines for its fruit and texture. Rivers Marie is the joint project between the husband wife team of Thomas Rivers Brown (of Schrader) and Genevieve Marie Welsh. The label was created in 2002 and includes wines from both Napa and Sonoma. Their Sonoma focus (which is the focus on this report) is on cool climate sites, and the Summa Vineyard, which was purchased by Brown and Welsh in 2010 located far out in the Occidental Ridge region of the Sonoma Coast, can be thought of as the heart of the estate. I tasted four Chardonnays for this report and six different Pinot Noir, all having singular and distinctive characters, which isn’t a given. These are elegant, Burgundian-styled wines that will benefit from short term cellaring, and I suspect be very long lived.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
It is probably no longer appropriate to call the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir the hidden gem in the Rivers-Marie range, as readers know just how outstanding this wine can be. The 2016 is terrific. Bright, nuanced and sculpted, the 2016 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) is super-expressive, even in the early going. Sweet aromatics and vibrant, mineral-laced berry fruit give the 2016 its tense, vibrant character. All the elements are impeccably balanced in this racy yet sumptuous Pinot Noir from Rivers-Marie. Vineyard sources are Riddle, Silver Eagle and Platt.