The Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot noir is fermented with ambient cultures, and the wine spends ten months in French oak, 18 percent new, before bottling. It’s a garnet rose color, deep but transparent, yielding a wildly floral perfume shot with fresh and dried fruits, petals, and herbs. The palate is embroidered with spiced botanicals: raspberry, dried strawberry, rose petals, cherries steeped in tea. The wine’s tannins are vanishing, while a note of woodsy sous-bois grounds the finish.
It’s a terrific wine to pair with roasts dressed with fruit compote; try pork, duck, or game birds. Also good with aged cow’s milk cheeses.
2019 Flowers Vineyards and Winery Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Sonoma County
14.1% ABV | $55 (sample)