2022 Domaine de la Côte Memorious Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills

These provocatively herbal bottlings grow more appealing with each sip. This edition begins with singed sagebrush, wild raspberry, green peppercorn and wave-washed seashore on the nose. The palate recalls a frosty walk through a pine forest, full of bay leaf and menthol elements that elevate the crunchy cranberry, mulberry and peppery flavours.

97 points wineenthusiast.com

Fresh and focused and very energetic with ripe cherry and raspberry fruit. Red fruit energy here with nice tannins. It has a lovely core of pure fruit showing great precision as well as silky texture.

95 points Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak

Perched above the Santa Ynez River, Memorious is immediately downslope from Bloom’s Field. The vineyard bends gently to the southwest, opening its face to the Pacific Ocean and its winds. It rests upon a bedrock of Monterey Shale covered by alluvial deposits; its soils are the heaviest of the Domaine - deep brown in color, composed primarily of clay. Memorious is host to - and consequently, named for - the one acre of diverse Pinot Noir seedlings planted in 2007. With these seedlings, which are in effect the “memories” of Pinot Noir, we have set out to identify and, over many years to come, cultivate our own genetic selection of one of the world’s greatest grape varieties. Organic, 100% whole cluster into open concrete tank, spontaneous fermentation, 12 months elevage in Ermitage barrels - 30% new.

Domaine de la Côte Memorious Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills is a striking, site-specific wine that showcases the precision, lift and savoury depth that define this cool-climate coastal appellation. Memorious is a single vineyard located just 800 metres from the Pacific Ocean, and it’s the first to be harvested each vintage due to its exposure and shallow clay-rich soils. Planted entirely to the Calera clone, this site produces Pinot Noir that’s perfumed, nervy and beautifully structured — a wine of energy and fine detail.

Winemaking at Domaine de la Côte is minimal and exacting. The fruit is hand-picked, fermented with native yeasts and aged in neutral French oak for around 12 to 18 months. The goal is transparency of site, not weight, and Memorious consistently delivers a Pinot of aromatic purity, mineral grip and savoury tension.

In the glass, it opens with aromas of pomegranate, cranberry, rose petal, sage and sea breeze. The palate is medium bodied and textural, showing red berry fruit, dried herbs, black tea and a stony, saline core. There’s finesse to the tannins and an almost Burgundian sense of restraint and precision, finishing long with floral and mineral lift.

Food pairing: ideal with duck breast, grilled salmon, wild mushroom risotto, or roast quail with thyme. Also excellent with soft cheeses like Époisses or with charcuterie.

Cellar potential: drinking well with air now, but will evolve gracefully over 8 to 12 years, gaining more savoury, earthy complexity.