Country: | United States |
Region: | California |
Winery: | Freelander |
Grape Type: | Pinot Noir |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2022 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Freelander Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Pinot Noir from California is the inaugural Pinot release from Freelander. Aged in French and American oak, it shows baked cherry and violet in the nose. Crisp flavors of red currant, baking spice and vivid strawberries balance the mouth feel. A touch of toasted oak completes the gentle finish.
Freelander is sourced through select vineyards that produce elegant and impressive wines. Most of the fruit comes from small production vineyard blocks in California’s central valley. Our handcrafted wines are true to varietal, show complex fruit and have a gentle, well balanced finish.
Our wines are carefully crafted by Larry Levin, who is among the most experienced winemakers in the Napa Valley. After completing his Enology degree at UC Davis, Larry spent seventeen years at Dry Creek Vineyard where over 18 vintages he produced more than 15 varietal wines. He has since covered the globe by making wine in New Zealand, Chile, and Australia across all price points and styles. For the previous nine years Larry was head of winemaking at Icon Estates where he oversaw the Franciscan, Mt. Veeder, Robert Mondavi, Estancia, Ravenswood, Quintessa and Ruffino brands. Larry also consults for wineries in the Stag’s Leap and Oakville districts in Napa and Sonoma.
Chaume Bourgogne Rouge Pinot Noir 2022 is made from 100% Pinot Noir.Color: bright ruby red
Bouquet: blackcurrant, raspberry and hints of blackberry
Bouche / Palate: smooth attack, balanced, fine tannins and smooth finish
Butterflied lamb, char-grilled steak, venison. Dishes like cassoulet or duck with olives if they're more rustic. Roast goose.
Our DuMOL Estate Vineyard is our original high-density vine planting from 2004. It’s organically farmed without irrigation – these vines work hard each season. We make a strict selection for this bottling, one of our flagship wines, so that only three acres of its nine total comprise this bottling; the balance forms the core of Highland Divide. This is the best of the best. The high vine density and exclusively Calera Selection produce a wine with a significant level of both tannin and acidity. This structure is buffered by a deep core of fruit extract, the product of the ripe grape skins themselves, and the essence of the wine. Each vintage can age for many years, and it gradually deepens into a woodsy, truffley, and enveloping wine with grand scale complexity while never relinquishing its inherent brightness.
The wine’s aromas and flavors are akin to black cherry, boysenberry, hibiscus, anise, moss, and juniper. The palate is simultaneously bright yet dark, with mineral drive, violet floral lift, and bay laurel freshness. Tannins and acidity fuse to lengthen these flavors, and the wine finishes with dried herbs and orange zest lift. Great aging potential. Drink between 2025 and 2034 and decant for an hour in its youth to hasten the development.
Review:
Medium to deep ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard comes barreling out with bold notes of fresh blackberries and black cherries opening out to suggestions of anise, garrigue, and lilacs. The medium-bodied palate reveals impactful black berry flavors with wonderfully spicy accents supported by grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long with a minerally lift. This is an all Calera vineyard. (LPB)
-The Wine Independent 97 Points
The wine’s aromas and flavors are akin to red and black cherry, briary wild berries, pomegranate, dried rose, pepper and licorice. Significant umami notes develop with time, and it offers a chewy core of fruit on a lovely expanding palate. Despite its obvious richness, there’s polish and definition to the flavors and structure. The wine turns spicy and savory on its long finish. Drink between late-2024 and 2032.
We’ve produced Ryan Pinot Noir since 2002, and it has always focused upon the mature dry-farmed Dutton-Widdoes Vineyard, deep in the heart of Green Valley. Widdoes produces a wild berry, truffley style of rich, dark Pinot that offers substantial hidden complexity which is revealed over time. In recent years we’ve balanced this power style with a block of vibrant, elegant, and red-fruited Pinot from Dutton-Jentoft, located at higher elevation closer to the coast. Both vineyards are sensitively farmed by our long-time partners, the multi-generational Dutton Family. Traditionally our most fruit-filled and approachable Pinot bottling, history shows that the wine ages gracefully for a decade-plus, revealing all its quintessential Green Valley Pinot beauty as it develops in bottle.
Review:
From the oldest vines of the estate, the 2022 Pinot Noir DuMOL Ryan is fantastic on the nose, with notes of fresh leather, Asian spices, sandalwood, and fresh cherries. The palate is vibrant and salty with green valley character, revealing finely coiled tannins, mouthwatering acidity, a saline mineral flourish, and a long finish. This one of the most compelling wines in the vintage for me, and it’s going to age gracefully over the next 15-20 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
Lingua Franca The Plow Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
A large proportion of fruit from some of our finest sites, 48% coming from Blocks 1 - 3, planted with PN777 clone. Another 44% is sourced from two blocks of the bold PN 115. The elegant and nuanced PN777 Pinot Noir grown on Gelderman-Jory soils creates the top notes of mineral, rose petal and savory elements while the PN115 provides the fruit, body and weight of the wine.
Loin of lamb, Filet Mignon, veal chop, veal scallopini, pasta with Bolognese sauce, charcuterie, hard cheeses, hamburger, Viennese boiled beef (Tafelspitz), Wienerschnitzel, Kalbi, Bulgogi. Teriyaki, Vietnamese shaking beef, Chinese broccoli beef or Feast of the Immortals? Experimentation is welcome!
Review:
The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate saw 20% whole clusters and 20% new oak. A representation of the vineyard, the blend can vary from year to year. The 2022 is a ripe ruby color and opens to notes of spice and ripe raspberries. Medium-bodied, it’s a great appellation wine, with ripe tannins and a great finish. Drink 2024-2036. A few thousand cases were produced.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
Paul Hobbs George Menini Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Brilliant ruby red in the glass, the 2022 vintage follows the color with matching aromas of wild mountain strawberry, raspberry, and cherry infused with hints of black tea. On the palate, this wine has the texture of thick satin, evolving seamlessly with subtle energy and pleasant tension. Elegant, fine-grained tannins run through a lingering, juicy finish.
Review:
This has fantastic intensity and focus with firm and racy tannins that show blue fruits, orange peel, hibiscus flowers and plants. Medium body. Acid and tannin driven. Complex structure. 85% of this is heritage clones of Mount Eden, Calera and Swan. Drinkable, but better in two or three years.
-James Suckling 97 Points
Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir Katherine Lindsay Estate is made from Pinot Noir.
Pure and vibrant, the ruby red 2022 Katherine Lindsay Estate Pinot Noir leads with a nose full of contrasts—fragrant violets, pleasantly bitter dried orange peel, and raspberry tea in an almost confection-like blend are answered by earthier red clay, hints of sage and thyme, and spring forest floor notes. Marked energy keeps the well-structured palate vibrant, with vanilla-kissed red fruit—mountain raspberry, pomegranate, cherry—fresh and seductive at the same time. Fine-grained, almost talc-like tannins edge the long, persistent finish with palpable energy.
Review:
Pouring a medium ruby hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Katherine Lindsay Estate comes from the Russian River Valley and is mostly produced from the Calera clone of Pinot Noir, along with Swan. Spicy and savory on the nose, it opens to vibrant notes of rose hip rose petals, brambly wild herbs, cranberries, and orange rind. Medium-bodied, it offers compact tension, with fine tannins and elegant, lasting notes of cinnamon on the finish. It’s deserving of another year or two in a cool cellar and drinking over the coming 15 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
Michel Rolland, Pomerol vintner and consultant to many of the world's top wineries, teamed with Washington State wine visionary Allen Shoup to produce this limited release wine.
With its intense color and inviting aromas of dark berries, licorice, baking spice and a hint of smoke, the Pedestal is a bold wine that leaves a lasting impression. Dark fruit flavors integrated with sweetness from the barrel and richness from the tannins come together seamlessly, lingering across a structured mid-palate and lengthy finish.
Winemaking: Hand-harvested grapes were double-sorted to remove green material that might impart harsh tannins, then most of the lots were cold soaked to build richness and flavor before undergoing whole-berry fermentation in 55L upright French wood tanks. This, combined with gentle pump-overs throughout fermentation, enhanced the wine’s color, texture and mouthfeel. The finished wine was aged 22 months in 85% new French oak barrels.
Review:
"I loved the 2014 Pedestal Merlot and it’s 81% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot. It offers a downright voluptuous and incredibly sexy style in its ripe black currants, toasted spice, chocolate and licorice aromas and flavors. Broad, expansive, layered and pleasure bent, with ripe tannin, it's a knockout Merlot that's going to have 10-15 years of drinkability. - Jeb Dunnuck"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #231, June 2017), 95 pts
Double Diamond by Schrader Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Barrels: 54% new French oak, 46% second-use Schrader Darnajou French Oak
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon offers concentration, lively acidity, and refined tannins that have become the hallmark of the 2022 vintage. The nose holds notes of black raspberry, toasted cedar, juicy plum, and pennyroyal mint—a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon signature. The palate is mouthwatering with intricately woven layers of blackberry compote, dark chocolate shavings, oolong tea, and flint. The dynamic flavors carry across the mid-palate in vivid harmony into a long, floral finish. This wine is ready to drink upon release but will cellar well for years to come.
Double Diamond is sourced exclusively from a complement of prime vineyard estates. Sourced from the same famed vineyards as its beloved inspiration Schrader Cellars in Napa Valley’s world-renowned Oakville AVA, including our To Kalon Vineyard.