California is one of the few places in the world that grows Pinot Noir well. It’s one of even fewer places that grows Pinot Noir well at elevation.
For a grape that already inspires heated discussions about its ability to exude a sense of place, the added dimension of altitude is a worthy way to expand your understanding of what Pinot Noir is capable of. But don’t confuse this as a mere curiosity: California’s high-elevation Pinots aren’t just interesting, they’re delicious.
Pinot has long been a grape defined by climate and site. Plant it at a couple thousand feet of elevation near the coast and it’s a different wine. Elevation impacts tannin, so these wines are long-lived; they take time to unfurl. And thanks to the coastal Redwoods and Douglas Fir trees that surround most of California’s high-altitude Pinot Noir vineyards, high-elevation California Pinots smell like both the ocean and forest, with savory, resiny, garrigue-like characteristics.
On the palate, high-elevation California Pinot is often tactile, textural, velvety and warm—but also spicy and intensely earthy. Perhaps most interestingly, they read as substantial, dense, contemplative and complete wines, but at lower alcohol levels and higher acidities, which gives them the unusual quality of being both big and small.
“You’re dealing with a lot more firepower with less alcohol,” says Arista winemaker Matt Courtney, “If you’re seeking a more structured version of Pinot Noir, these are very age-worthy wines.”
There may be nowhere else on earth that can achieve all of these qualities in Pinot Noir at once. And isn’t that transmission of a location’s unique characteristics exactly what the endless quest for great Pinot is all about?
Fog’s Cooling Effect
The California coast is notorious for its fog. San Francisco Bay’s fog even has a name (Karl) and a Twitter account (@KarlTheFog). The fog, which is especially thick in mornings and late afternoons, is produced by cold air from the Pacific hitting the warm land mass that is California. This results in cold summers in many places (especially San Francisco) and a range of temperatures throughout each day. Local winemakers—always dressed in layers thanks to the local weather’s fast-changing nature—like to talk at length about how long this fog takes to burn off at each of their sites.
But high elevation vineyards sit above the fog for much of the growing day, getting hours more sunlight at cooler temperatures than lower sites, where either too much fog, or too much heat, can cause thin-skinned Pinot to rot or shrivel.
After eight years working at Marcassin Winery on the far Sonoma Coast, Courtney now works for Arista, with the Perli Vineyard that sits at 1,500-1,600-feet elevation along the Mendocino Ridge. “The proximity to the ocean at elevation means you get warm temperatures and sun exposure that help ripen grapes during the growing season,” he says. “But the ocean keeps the high temperatures in check, where the coolness of the ocean might impede ripening at lower elevations.”
This more-sun-with-less-heat dynamic creates a longer growing season, which allows the grapes to ripen slowly, accumulating sugars—though not too many—while still getting physiologically ripe so that the color, flavor, texture and phenolics are all mature.
This creates a distinct advantage for winemakers, who neither have to wait so long for physiological ripeness that they risk grape sugars getting too high (and thus yielding higher-alcohol wines) nor need to pick too early to avoid the heat and risk contending with vegetal, underripe characteristics that are unpleasant to drink.
Extended time on the vine in a cool environment also helps the grapes retain acidity while building texture and structure, leading to freshness and complexity.
Farming in these conditions isn’t for the faint of heart. California’s best high-elevation Pinot vineyards are remote and extreme.
“Yields can be low. It’s steep, the soils are poor and well-drained,” Courtney says of Perli Vineyard. “You’re more affected by the variabilities of climate year-to-year and much more exposed to the ocean—more exposed in general. These vines bear the full brunt of weather coming off the Pacific.”
Such wild conditions give life to some wildly interesting wines. If you’re new to high-elevation Pinot Noir, start with wines from Mendocino Ridge, West Sonoma Coast and the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Mendocino Ridge
There are only 75 acres planted to grapes in the entire Mendocino Ridge appellation, which consists of the first and most exposed ridgeline overlooking the Pacific Ocean above the fog at around 2,000-feet-elevation. Most are surrounded by redwood and Douglas fir trees.
Among the best-known sites in this small appellation is Manchester Ridge Vineyard, 30 acres planted at a 2,200-foot elevation. But also look for Perli Vineyard (1,800 feet), Signal Ridge (2,642 feet) and Valenti Ranch (1,500 feet). Producers to seek out include Arista, Coil, Drew and Brick & Mortar.
Santa Cruz Mountains
The American Viticulture Area (AVA) made famous by Ridge Vineyards and Mount Eden Vineyards, the Santa Cruz Mountains overlook the ocean on one side and Silicon Valley on the other. As the first appellation determined by elevation, its vineyards must sit above 400 feet, though many rise as high as 2,600-feet-elevation on ridgetops surrounded by redwoods. Mount Eden, at a 2,000-foot elevation, was founded in 1945 and has some of the oldest vines in California, planted on an exposed mountaintop.
In addition to Mount Eden and Domaine Eden (its sister site), other Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot producers to know include Thomas Fogarty, Big Basin Vineyards, Beauregard, Rhys Vineyards, Sante Arcangeli and Madson Wines. Sonoma County-based Kutch Wines also makes an outstanding Pinot from the Santa Cruz Mountains’ Mindego Ridge Vineyard.
West Sonoma Coast & Fort Ross-Seaview
In the West Sonoma Coast and Fort Ross-Seaview appellations, vineyards sit five to eight miles from the ocean along a series of coastal ridgetops, as far north as Annapolis and as far south as Fort Ross. While cold marine air generates considerable fog at lower elevations, the higher sites sit above the fog.
Flowers’ Sea View Ridge Vineyard is between 1,400 and 1,800-feet high. Hirsch Vineyards has an elevation of 1,500-feet. RAEN ranges from 1,025 to 1,270 feet. Other producers to seek out are Kutch McDougall Ranch, Blue Farm King Ridge and Sojourn Cellars Riddle Vineyard.
Flowers Vineyards & Winery
Flowers Sonoma Coast Sea View Ridge Pinot Noir
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