2021 Sandhi Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara

The 2021 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills has a medium ruby color and pretty scents of cinnamon stick, aniseed, iron, underbrush and charcuterie with a core of red cherries and cranberries. Medium-bodied yet very concentrated, it has a powdery frame, sparks of refreshing acidity and a very long, graphite-driven finish. Precise and detailed, it deserves to spend another 2-3 years in bottle.

96 points Erin Brooks robertparker.com Dec 2022 Drink 2022-2032

 Principally declassified fruit from the Domaine de la Côte estate (94%), the blend is buttressed by old vine fruit from the Rinconada Vineyard. Indigenous yeast fermentation in open-top concrete vats with no additions or adjustments, aged 6 months in neutral barrel, 4 months in tank and bottled without filtration. This brightly coloured wine is brimming with high-toned aromatics and an undercurrent of dark plum. Tinged with a marine-influenced savoury note on the finish. Serious purity of flavour.

The entry level Pinot Noir from Sandhi/Domaine de la Côte. A blend of vineyard holdings in the Sta. Rita Hills. Over half the fruit is from 40 year-old vines at Sanford & Benedict with the rest coming from younger vines at Rita’s Crown, Bent Rock and Domaine de la Côte itself. This wine showcases the exuberance of Sta. Rita Hills with bright, shiny red crunchy raspberry fruit that is layered with cola spices and tobacco.