Wine Last Sold on: March 21, 2013
Sand Hill Winery
Featured Wine:
2007 Durell Vineyard Pinot Noir
| Varietal: | Pinot Noir |
| Region: | California: Sonoma Coast |
| Availability: | Final Call |
| Avg. Price: | $50.00 |
| Wine Spies: | $24.99 |
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SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:
We only showcase wines that we love. While our emphasis is on quality first, every now and again we come across a real standout wine that rises above. When we do, we issue alerts like this one.
SUPER QPR ALERT:
At today’s special Wine Spies price, this wine delivers tremendous value - and a drinking experience that exceeds expectations, easily earning it this special QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Alert.
Mission Codename: Run, don't walk
- Operative
- Agent Red
- Objective
- Send Agent Red back to the Durell Vineyard, whose Chardonay recently wowed our Operatives. This time, secure every remaining bottle of their Estate Pinot Noir has been making waves among the Pinot faithful
- Mission Status
- Accomplished!
- Winemaker
- Kenneth Juhasz
Final Assessment
It is rare to find such a well-aged and beautifully balanced Pinot Noir.
Today’s 2007 Sand Hill Winery Durell Vineyard Pinot Noir really impressed our tasting panel with its balanced and elegant style. While some 2007 Pinots are beginning to show their age, today’s seems to be hitting its stride.
Today’s Durell Vineyard is perfectly positioned in the Carneros AVA, where some of California’s finest Pinot Noir is grown. This vineyard supplies some of California’s most prestigious wineries, including Kistler, Patz & Hall, Tor Kenward Family Wines, Robert Craig, Armida and more. While wines from some of these vineyards command ultra-premium prices, today’s wine is an absolute steal.
Tasting Profile
Very dark, but clear and shimmery with garnet hues that transition to brick and then clear at the meniscus.
Dark plum, black cherry cordial, dried wild mushroom, dark dried leather, dry forest floor, subtle spice and geranium.
Stewed cherry, stewed plum, supple leather, Bing cherry cordial, nasturtium flower, lightly steeped jasmine black tea and a hint of black pepper.
Flavors initially expand across the palate, before becoming more soft and delicate.
Stuffed mushrooms with a dry Manchego cheese or a blackened New York steak.
What the Winery Says
These days, a handful of regions outside of Burgundy are matching that famous French region for class, elegance and fruit-richness, when it comes to great Pinot…the renowned Sand Hill Durell Vineyard as “almost Vosne” — comparing it to Burgundy’s most sought-after (and very expensive!) Vosne-Romanée wines.
You’ll enjoy fresh, silky wild berry fruit (red raspberry and boysenberry) rounded out with mellow mint and smoke tones. Like all great Pinot, this is a very versatile food-pairing wine. Sip with pork, duck and oily fish like salmon.
Wine Specs
AVA: Sonoma Valley
Alcohol: 13.7%
Vintage: 2007
Cases produced: 444
About the Winery
Sand Hill Wines produces a single Pinot Noir (500 cases) and a Chardonnay (300 cases) from the renowned Durell Vineyard in the Sonoma Valley appellation. Durell Vineyard was planted in 1979 by owner Ed Durell and vineyard manager Steve Hill. The current owners are Elanor Phipps Price and Bill Price.
The Durell Vineyard extends from the southern end of the Sonoma Valley into the western end of the cool Carneros region. Perhaps the most famous producer sourcing grapes from this vineyard is Kistler Vineyards.
