Maker: Rivers-Marie, Yountville, California, USA
Place of origin: Occidental Ridge Vineyard, Sonoma Coast AVA, California, USA
Vintage: 2012
ABV: 13.8%
Price: $50 (winery)
We received a complimentary tasting and tour of the winery at the time of purchase.
Appearance: Dark ruby.
Nose: Dynamic. Red raspberry, crushed blueberry, wet oak, smoke.
Palate: Pomegranate, tart cherry juice, old oak, leather, morel mushrooms.
Finish: Mixed fruit jam, crimini mushrooms, custard, oak. Softly lingers f0r a moderate length of time.
Parting words: This wine is from our (Mrs. Sipology’s and mine) trip to NoCal a couple years ago. I wrote up the trip here. Rivers-Marie produces (or at least produced in 2012) two single vineyard Sunoma Pinots, Occidental Ridge and Summa ( the latter owned by one of the co-owners of R-M) as well as a general Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.
Four years in the bottle have turned a good wine into a great one. Rivers-Marie makes some of the best Pinot in California. It’s fruity, earthy and bold without being too aggressive and killing the beautiful character of the grape. If you can find some, buy it. Recommended.
Sipology 