2016 Sierra Madre Vineyard Pinot Noir
Santa Maria Valley AVA
Tasting Notes
“Deep red hue. Engaging aromas of cloves, cinnamon, raspberry, cherry, pomegranate and cranberry. With some aeration, elements of jasmine, orange-zest, and papaya come out as well. The flavor profile is very true to the aromas and is met with unctuous quality, density, and complexity. While youthful now, this wine is packed with abundancy and hedonistic enjoyment which will bode well into the future. Drink now through 2025”
~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
“Deep, bright-hued red. A complex, highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, vanilla, exotic spices and rose oil, with a smoky mineral nuance emerging as the wine opens up. Juicy, focused and impressively concentrated, offering intense raspberry and cherry liqueur flavors that become livelier on the back half. Delivers a suave blend of power and finesse and finishes very long and sweet, with fine-grained tannins lending shape and closing grip.”
Josh Raynolds
Antoni Galloni’s Vinous
Production Data
Growers: Circle Family
Winemaker: Bill Brosseau
Appellation: Santa Maria Valley AVA
Barrel Ageing: 15 months
Cooperage: 100% French Oak, 54% new
Production: 18 barrels
Composition: 100% Pinot Noir
Acidity: 5.59 g/L – 3.66 pH
Alcohol: 14.4%
Harvest: September 3, 2016
Club Release: October 31, 2018
Consume Now 2025
Past Vintage Wine Scores
“Winemaker Bill Brosseau hits a single vineyard home run with this bottling from one of the Central Coast’s oldest sites. It shows exotic plum, tangy cranberry, pine needle, juniper and pencil shaving scents on the nose. The palate is steeped in mulberry, marjoram and curry-like Indian spices, proving dynamic and delicious in the most compelling ways.”
Wine Enthusiast
“Rock solid, with lots of framboise, cassis, licorice and spice box, with a kiss of oak, the 2014 Pinot Noir Sierra Madre Vineyard comes from the Santa Maria Valley, which is in the northern part of Santa Barbara County. It is rich, textured and balanced on the palate, with a great finish. Drink it over the coming 5-7 years.”
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Mossy, dank, forest-floor aromas of juniper, chaparral shrub, pencil lead and spiced porcini mushrooms mix with a cooked rhubarb character on the nose of this wine from single-vineyard specialist Bill Brosseau. Cranberry and tart cherry flavors are decorated with rainbow peppercorns, herb-crusted roast beef, bay leaf, eucalyptus and camphor, with layers upon layers of complexity.”
Wine Enthusiast
“Sourced from the outstanding Sierra Madre Vineyard, this bottling exhibits vibrant dark cherry fruit and is very soft and evolved on the palate with great intensity of flavor. Mouth filling with hints of spice, it offers dark cherry fruit flavors with excellent acidity and balance. A beautiful wine ready to drink.”
International Wine Review
“Looking at the reds from Santa Barbara County and a beautiful Pinot that offers up a pure, layered and structured profile, the 2011 Pinot Noir Sierra Madre Vineyard is loaded with black cherry, licorice, mineral, baking spices and scorched earth aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and elegant, with surprising density for the vintage, it will dish out loads of pleasure over the coming 7-8 years. Drink now-2021.”
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
August 2013
The Sierra Madre Vineyard
The Sierra Madre Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley is owned by Doug and Jan Circle. It sits at 215 ft. above sea level and consists of 155 acres, 91 of Chardonnay and 64 of Pinot Noir. It is the most northern and one of the western-most vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, only 15 miles from the coast, and benefits greatly from its unique marine influence. It is also one of the few valleys in the state that run East/West as opposed to North/South. An exceptionally cool growing season encourages slow ripening over a long period of time, allowing for the development of structure and flavor intensity