2021 Tatomer Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County, California, USA

ABOUT THIS WINE

An elegant and refined Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara County with lovely high toned fruit aromatics wrapped in delicate minerality. Grapes for this Pinot Noir are sourced from multiple clones and vineyards around the Santa Rita Hills AVA. Ferments are in small batches with 50% whole cluster used. Maturation is for 18 months in French oak, 15% new.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Winemaker Graham Tatomer is a longtime member of the wine industry (since he was 16!). A passion for Riesling led him to Austria to study winemaking there where he became interested in Grüner Veltliner as well. Today, Graham makes wines of a clear Austrian pedigree – they are haltingly alluring in their presentation of power, precision, and detail – but their tenor is wholly idiosyncratic: they belong to the soils and climes of Santa Barbara. He has identified superior sites for these two white varieties, and has made strides, in concert with their farmers, to dictate their farming – even when receiving mere fractions of their yields. He often picks with multiple passes in the interest of celebrating diverse textures and expressions of flavor, and sorts even further to promote purity and singular bottlings. What’s more, he enjoys the region’s favored varieties, too, and can stand alongside the best of his peers in producing tensile, delicate Pinot Noir – in minute quantities.