Happy New Year! And what a way to kick it off with stunningly good pricing on these rocking estate-grown wines from Fort Ross Vineyard! Our special Insider's Advantage pricing gets you more than 50% off the typical SRP even on this brand new 2023 release with monster scores! Don't confuse this wine with the less expensive, non-estate "Sea Slopes" bottling. This is the prime, estate-grown, Fort Ross Estate Vineyard bottling from 30-year-old mature vines, planted right on the west Sonoma coast. As pioneers of the region, Lester and Linda Schwartz first established a vineyard in 1988. After many years of experimentation and learning, they hand-chose a few heritage selections and Dijon clones to plant out the several dozen small blocks of this mountainous estate in 1994. The 2023 Estate Pinot Noir is comprised of Swan, Calera, Pommard, and Dijon 115 clones. Winemaker Jeff Pisoni (son of legendary winemaker Gary Pisoni) picked the fruit some 2-3 weeks later than normal due to the long, cool growing season. The wine was then matured for 11 months in 30% new French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Bright, sappy red fruits, and dried flowers are lifted on the nose. More brambly components and coastal forest floor hints mingle with deep, briary red berry fruits and spiced cherry compote on the palate, There's real depth and power here but without losing it's focus, and vibrant energy. Perfectly ripe and with great fruit but also not shying away from some more sauvage, wild, cool-climate characteristics that make this wines so complex and intriguing. A beautiful bottle of wine with a long life ahead of it if you don't drink it all first!