2012 Domaine De La Cote La Cote Sta. RIta Hills
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Tasting notes
The fruit from the La Côte vineyard is grown on an ancient bed-rock left over from a siliceous and diatomaceous seabed. La Côte lies behind a massive cliff of diatomaceous earth and is protected from the direct influence of the cold marine air from the Pacific Ocean. With its south-east exposition, the vineyard absorbs the energy of the morning sun and the exposed shale quickly warms the vines from the night-time chill. Fermented with 100% whole bunches and aged in oak for 20 months (20% new). Deeply fragrant with pure, sweetish red-cherry fruit but no overly sweet strawberries here. Silky, delicate, elegant and immensely long. Ravishing. (JH)
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
More restrained than their Bloom's Field cuvée. Layers of crunchy red fruit, and lots of violet aromatic lift on the finish. Very tightly furled at present. (RH)
Bright red. A powerful, deeply pitched bouquet evokes cherry compote, potpourri, smoky minerals and spicecake. Sappy, penetrating and pure, offering intense red fruit liqueur and floral pastille flavors that expand slowly while picking up a suave blood orange nuance. Lithe yet powerful pinot with superb finishing clarity, youthfully chewy tannins and resonating spiciness. Extremely promising and among the best pinots I tasted from the region this year.
Brought up all in barrels, some of which are new, the 2012 Pinot Noir La Cote comes from their estate vineyard that’s located about as far west as you can get in the Sta. Rita Hills. It has full-bodied richness and depth to go with smoking notes of cassis, licorice and toast on the nose. Another winner from this estate, it has a seamless texture, fabulous purity of fruit and at least a decade of longevity. A collaboration between Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman, Domaine de la Cote focuses on Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills. Their estate vineyard is located as far west as you can go in the appellation and is southeast-facing, which gives it some shelter in this windswept AVA. The wines are made in focused, elegant style, and shine for their purity and precision. The 2012s, while still in barrel, have a touch more texture and richness, with no loss of purity. This is a rock-solid estate. www.domainedelacote.com