Churchill Cellars
2009 Left Edge Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
California: Sonoma Coast
Mission Briefing
Look at the results
This wine hails from a very unique vineyard. At 900 feet of elevation five miles from the Pacific Ocean, this wine grows in perfect Pinot growing conditions. The result is a lovely and lively Burgundian style Pinot Noir that we offer up with our strong recommendation.
We’ve always loved Ken Churchill’s wines and today’s delicious 2009 Left Edge Vineyard Pinot Noir continues this tradition. This wine is flavorful, elegant, bright and very food friendly.
Drinking just beautifully, now, we can’t wait to try this wine again and again over the next few years. If you enjoy great Pinot Noir, this is the perfect wine to stock up on as it should continue to progress for the next year or two.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Dark cherry juice hues with even concentration of color, from the heart of the wine out to its ruby red edges. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Bright red cherry, ripe strawberry, bramble, raspberry juice and dried fall leaves give the wine a complex overall nose. Underneath all of these, touches of dried leather and rhubarb really round out the nose. |
| Taste: | Bright and beautiful with high, juicy notes of red cherry, raspberry, young strawberry, cranberry and red rose petals. As the wine breathes, it also reveals subtle envelope of cedar. |
| Finish: | Very long with most of the fruits tailing off in equal proportion. Cranberry and fresh rhubarb persist the longest. |
| Pairing: | This bright, Burgindian style wine would work wonderfully with a roasted chicken rubbed with herbs de Provence. |
What the Winery Says
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
Aroma
Subtle cherry and raspberries
Taste
The first vintage from this young vineyard in the cool Sonoma Coast region. The vineyard is hand farmed by our winemaker, Anthony Austin. The wine’s predominate flavor is cherry with background notes of berries and candied violets. Supple on the palate, the wine has bright acidity and a long silky finish.
Accolades
92 Points - Wine Enthusiast Magazine Drink by Date Now through 2017
92 Points “A racy, rich and vital Pinot Noir, whose tart acidity and delicate structure testify to its cool coastal origin. The grapes were grown in a small vineyard close to the Pacific. You can taste the fog and wind that wind through the raspberry, cherry and cola flavors. Drink now-2015” Wine Enthusiast (8/1/2012)
About the Winery
In 1996, we traveled to the beautiful medieval hill-top Tuscan town of San Gimignano. As we toured the vineyards, we fell in love with their beauty and peacefulness and dreamed that someday we would move to the wine country, live among our own vines and produce our own world class wines. Three years later, we followed our dream and moved to Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. In 2000 we put in our vineyard and in 2003 produced our first 46 case vintage.
We chose the Russian River Valley because it has the rare balance of sunshine, cool nights and morning fog that creates the ideal terroir for Pinot Noir.
To plant and farm our vineyard, we selected Paul Sloan of Small Vines Viticulture. Paul studied fine grape growing in the Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy and then adopted the close spacing (meter x meter) concept to fit the Russian River soil and climate, which is slightly warmer and drier than Burgundy. Paul’s theory is simple “the smaller the vines, the better the wine”
Then we set out to find our winemaker. After researching his background and tasting his wines, it was an easy decision to have Anthony Austin make our wines. Anthony’s mentor was Andre Tchelistcheff, considered by many experts to be the most influential California winemaker of the past century. Anthony’s wines have won numerous prestigious awards, including Best in the World from the London Business Times for one of his Pinot Noirs and a Chardonnay.
We hope you will enjoy our wines as much as we love growing, producing, and sharing them with you.
Ken & Susan Churchill