Comptche Ridge Vineyards 2012 Pinot Noir Mendocino County

When it came time to talk about this Comptche Ridge Pinot, I struggled to find a specific story that I wanted to tell.  Yes, this is perhaps the most Burgundian of wines that we’ve ever shipped and while the winery is owned and operated by two brothers, much of the wine industry is family owned at this point, well at least until a conglomerate offers tens of millions for your brand name. What I think is most important about this wine though isn’t the specific vineyard where it’s from, but it’s the Anderson Valley itself.  Located about two hours north of San Francisco along the undeveloped coastline of California, Mendocino County and the Anderson Valley has become prime Pinot Noir territory for those who want to make wine from a vineyard that they can actually own themselves, while being in a cool climate region.  Literally cut out from Northern California’s famous Redwood groves Comptche Ridge offers the best insight into a family taking lighter styled California Pinot Noir to it’s logical extreme.  Actually that’s part of the allure of Anderson Valley, an AVA that I recently had to the pleasure to visit and taste through with almost all of the 20 different vineyard’s in the area.  The results are becoming more impressive as time goes by and a number of the most talked about winemakers in Napa and Sonoma have expressed an interest either publicly, or privately in our brief conversations about wanting to craft their own version of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir.

Perhaps the best approximation comes from the owner of Nob Hill Cafe in San Francisco who simply summed up the wine in your glass as being a “Somm whisperer”.  What she means by that quite simply is that every Sommelier who tries this wine, wants it on their list.  Food friendly, but with enough backbone to be interesting the Comptche Ridge folks use almost 50% whole cluster’s, which adds some extra tannin and depth to the wine.  Given the cold temperatures and fog that give this wine it’s light fruit and low alcohol content, that addition is crucial.

Wine Club members in both our Reserve and Special Selections Wine Clubs have received this wine.

Lastly, it’s probably important to note that Pinot Noir is the traditional accompaniment to turkey.  While we might be challenging you a bit with the bottles of Tempranillo, we thought it might be nice to play it safer with the other part of the shipment.

All of 45 cases were made of their 2012, here’s the winery provided tasting notes (as per their request):

The 2012 Pinot Noir Comptche Ridge is all about texture, silkiness and polish. Wonderfully layered and sensual in the glass, with dark red cherry, plum, licorice and star anise as some of the many notes that grace the palate in this exquisite, layered Pinot. The 50% whole clusters add lift, but are also beautifully integrated.