2012 Fort Ross, Pinot Noir, Sea Slopes, Fort Ross Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast.
Made by Jeff Pisoni, former winemaker at Peter Michael and of course the Pisoni and Lucia wines from his family’s great estate vineyards, the Fort Ross Sea Slopes is great value in Sonoma Coast Pinot with luxurious flavors and textures with deep color and harmony. The 2012 is fresh and delightful now, though has stuffing to age up to 7 years or so, it shows rich raspberry, cherry and juicy plum fruits, mocha, spice, anise and vanilla add complexity. This win eery is on a roll and the wines are just getting better and better, I would think with the quality and talent on hand there is potential for Fort Ross to rival the likes of Peay, Littorai, Hirsch and the rest out here on the wild Sonoma Coast, though they are pretty close now, especially with these 2012 wines. Look for this 2012 Sea Slopes to gain complexity, density and terroir character over the next year or two in bottle, best to wait a bit, even though it is showing well now and the impact on the palate is pretty impressive, there is more to come, drink from 2015 to 2022.
($36 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
avail at www.sfwtc.com ($32.95)