2018 Gap’s Crown Vineyard - Pinot Noir

Juicy dark cherry, plucked rose petal, cranberry preserves. Orange zest, Asian spices, fresh-picked blueberry. Bountiful bursts of succulent and expressive fruit highlighted by ripe strawberry, pomegranate, and plum boom with excellent concentration and complexity while hints of cinnamon, coriander, and marjoram enhance aromatics via lifted layers of spice. Notes of cherry blossom and peonies elegantly emerge within waves of sweet floral perfume that are pleasantly offset by charming natural tones of fallen leaves, forest floor, and mushroom. Impressions of ocean air and loamy earth round out the attack with subtle reflections of terroir that glimmer throughout the long and lingering finish. Impressively fragrant and outgoing on the nose while remaining wonderfully plump yet simultaneously weightless on the palate; exhibiting an intriguing and indulgent display of what is possible when cool ocean breezes meet warm California sunshine. Medium plus in body with elevated tannin balanced by bright acidity. This 2018 Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir by Marine Layer Wines is a delightfully enticing and luscious red from the Sonoma Coast.

Carefully planted on a series of steep undulating hills in the northeastern corner of the Petaluma Gap AVA, Gap's Crown Vineyard has quickly emerged as one of the Sonoma Coast's greatest vineyard sites for the production of deeply expressive and concentrated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This bottling, crafted by Marine Layer Wines using Pinot Noir sourced from Gap's Crown, brilliantly showcases the inimitable combination of power and finesse this vineyard can uniquely facilitate. This wine effortlessly erupts from the glass with pretty and highly perfumed fruit and floral notes enhanced by a range of subtle natural tones, light earthiness, and pronounced spice. It is a modern an unabashedly full-throttle Pinot that still does not completely abandon restraint or subtlety, and has undoubtedly been a serious pleasure to experience. Outstanding.