| Country: | United States |
| Region: | California |
| Winery: | Laird |
| Grape Type: | Pinot Noir |
| Organic: | Yes |
| Vintage: | 2019 |
| Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Laird Pinot Grigio Cold Creek is made from 100 percent Pinot Grigio.
The Laird Family’s Cold Creek Ranch is a 300 acre vineyard located on the Sonoma side of the Carneros district. The cooling sea breezes off the San Pablo Bay are perfectly suited for Pinot Grigio as well as Chardonnay, two grape varieties that thrive in this special vineyard.
Tasting Notes: The clear yellow sapphire hue sparkles in the sunlight, with inviting aromas of juicy passionfruit, honeysuckle and Juicy Fruit gum. The palate is balanced with medium acid and enticing flavors of melon, apricot, vanilla, and subtle mineralty, leading to a focused, mouthwatering finish.
Vineyard: 100% Cold Creek Ranch
Appellation: Los Carneros (Sonoma)
Trione Pinot Noir River Road Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
River Road Ranch encompasses 115 acres in the heart of the Russian River Valley appellation. Located on the western bench of the Santa Rosa Plain, the vineyard thrives in well-drained soils. The region's fog-cooled nights are ideal for this varietal.
This Pinot Noir presents aromas of dark cherry, exotic spice, green tea and a slight earthiness we call forest floor. The wine is silky on the palate, beautifully balanced, with a long finish. The Pinot Noir's firm structure suggests excellent aging potential, 10-15 years.
We made this Pinot Noir in small lots, using traditional techniques —fermenting in open-top tanks and hand-plunging the caps during primary fermentation. To accentuate the outstanding fruit flavors, we added 20% whole clusters to the each fermenter. The Pinot Noir aged twelve months in French oak barrels (40% new) from coopers Meyrieux Traditional House and Remond.
Review:
"A savory and mossy pinot noir with racy berries, licorice and ash. Some coca cola, too. This is deep and decadent with some dried roses and wet earth on the palate and some darker fruit and herbs in the lengthy finish. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling (June 2022), 92 pts
Ancien Pinot Noir Carmel Valley River Ranch is made from 100% Pinot Noir.
River Ranch Vineyard from suitcase clone of famous vineyard, mother block to the Pisoni clone as well.
Spice, tea, and plum and blackberry aromas dance atop currants and boysenberry pie. The opulence continues with secondary notes of chocolate and black tea that lead to satisfying elegant finish revealing jasmine. The finish is mouthwatering and long with presenting umami, soy, and Asian spice. Planted to the same special cuttings as our block at the Toyon Farm in Carneros, they are a joy tasting side by side, illustrating the profound influence of terroir.
Pair with Asian, pork with hoisin sauce, savory foods.
Review:
"Sourced from a vineyard of imported Burgundian cuttings planted back in 1982, this is a complex Pinot Noir, offering concentrated aromas of blueberry, palo santo and warm vanilla on the nose. The palate is joyous in cherry and baking-spice flavors, then picks up an herbaceous eucalyptus leaf kick before dropping into a spicy, Sichuan peppercorn-laced finish. - M.K."
- Wine Enthusiast (February/March 2024), 95 points + Editor's Choice
Flaunt Pinot Noir Peake Ranch Vineyard Santa Rita Hills is made from 100% Pinot Noir.
Review:
"A light shade of ruby in the glass, this single-vineyard expression pops on the nose with fresh Bing cherry, strawberry, curry leaf and carnation aromas. The palate is very zesty as well, with a taut texture that presents flavors of smashed currant, melon rind, crunchy sage and wild thyme. - MATT KETTMANN"
- Wine Enthusiast (April 2022), 94 pts
Trione Pinot Noir River Road Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
River Road Ranch encompasses 115 acres in the heart of the Russian River Valley appellation. Located on the western bench of the Santa Rosa Plain, the vineyard thrives in well-drained soils. The region's fog-cooled nights are ideal for this varietal.
This Pinot Noir presents aromas of dark cherry, exotic spice, green tea and a slight earthiness we call forest floor. The wine is silky on the palate, beautifully balanced, with a long finish. The Pinot Noir's firm structure suggests excellent aging potential, 10-15 years.
We made this Pinot Noir in small lots, using traditional techniques —fermenting in open-top tanks and hand-plunging the caps during primary fermentation. To accentuate the outstanding fruit flavors, we added 20% whole clusters to the each fermenter. The Pinot Noir aged twelve months in French oak barrels (40% new) from coopers Meyrieux Traditional House and Remond.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
After nearly 50 years in the wine business, we understand the ins and outs of the industry, from the trends to the challenges. We believe that our success is due to our vineyard expertise as well as our shared goal to produce great estate wines.
With a concentration on Napa and Carneros vineyards, we have sought to produce wines that are “a window to a place.” Each one of our vineyards is different in expression, with its own subtle, yet distinctive character and voice. Each year renews in us an intense drive to understand, react to, and work with each vineyard to allow it to reach its full potential. This process, lead by our winemaking and vineyard management team, is crucial for the execution of successful wines.
The vineyard holdings possess a cross section of geomorphic and microclimate idiosyncrasies that are poised to produce particular grape varieties that thrive in their desired terroir.
From the thick fog and marine winds in Carneros to the volcanic soils mixed with ancient coastal deposits in the lower bench of the Mayacamas Mountains, they farm their vineyards to produce fruit that best complements the hallmarks of the land.
Laird Pinot Noir Ghost Ranch is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
9 months in French Oak (60% new)
Vineyard workers have long reported seeing people between the rows and down by the creek, people who simply disappear when approached. Hence the name “Ghost Ranch”. This is our family’s seventh vintage of Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes: With enticing garnet hues, that leads way to aromas of fresh raspberries, toasty oak, Bing cherries and baking spice. With a medium body and a balanced smooth palate that opens to distinct layers of wild strawberry, vanilla & sweet cherry compote.
Easily paired with a variety of cuisine including Pasta Puttanesca, cedar plank salmon or Paella.
Pago de Carraovejas Ribera Del Duero is made from 90% Tempranillo, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot
The most honest interpretation of the Carraovejas Valley.
Body, structure and balance with a vibrant background. Delicacy, harmony and passion for detail are perceived in a wine that reflects the unique character of the valley in an outstanding way.
The 2022 vintage was characterized by cool winter months and extremely low rainfall, reaching limits that had not been observed for years. Due to the good rainfall of the previous year, the vines had good accumulated water reserves, which allowed the vineyard to have a good phenological cycle and normal development. Budding and flowering were perfectly developed in each of the varieties worked, and a homogeneous and balanced development of the plants was achieved. The summer was excessively hot, with several episodes of heat waves, which were mitigated by drip irrigation. Veraison, which was slower than in previous years, and ripening began in early August and the berries developed very uniformly. Harvest began on September 12 and ended on September 28.
Pago de Carraovejas 2022 is the most honest reflection of the valley to which it owes its name. An environment in which the vines climb the slopes to form a unique landscape. On the surface, its tertiary soil of limestone marl, clay and sandstone outcrops force the vines to self-regulate and give their best. Plots that converge in an orography marked by its unique mesoclimate. The vineyards are distributed from the middle zones to the moors that exceed 900 meters in altitude; from the gentle undulation that descends towards the stream, to the plots that exceed 30% slope. South- and north facing slopes, each with its own personality, create the profile of the Carraovejas Valley.
The grapes for Pago de Carraovejas 2022 were harvested by hand after an initial selection of bunches in the vineyard. Subsequently, in the winery, a double selection was made: first by cluster then by berry. Gravity must production allows maximum respect for the raw material. During the fermentation process, indigenous yeasts and lactic bacteria from our own estate were used. The wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for 12 months. The entire process was marked by precision and care in every detail. For greater protection, the wine contains sulfites. Finally it was clarified with natural egg white and bottle in spring of 2024.
Review:
A concentrated, dense Ribera del Duero, but there is a lot to like if you enjoy plushness, with its lush blackberry fruit and dark chocolate. Fine-grained and full-bodied on the palate, but fresh and still pretty tense, with chalky tannins. Drink from 2025.
-James Suckling 93 Points
La Despensa Boutique Pool Blend 75% Cinsault, 15% Pais, 5% Marsanne and 5% Roussanne.
A genuinely unique wine - La Despensa is the only producer of Cinsault in Colchagua and Pais from this valley is also extremely rare! The Cinsault and the 2 whites come from a new vineyard planted in 2017 and the Pais from a 150 year old, dry-farmed vineyard in Pumanque about 20 minutes from the winery that they run themselves organically. The Cinsault and Pais give notes of raspberry and strawberry and the white Roussanne and Marsanne a little mouthfeel and a hint of tropical fruit.
Organically grown grapes (not certified) from our own vineyard in Santa Ana, and Pumanque in the Colchagua Valley. Irrigated as sparingly as possible via drip irrigation (dry-farming for the 150 year old Pais). Hand harvested and sorted personally by me in the vineyard (I personally check every single bunch), then destemmed with the crusher removed from the destemmer. Grapes are fermented in open top bins and concrete tank and blended immediately after pressing. MLF occurs with the wine already blended. Wines are racked in November and again in January before being bottled after about 10 months ageing in 50% neutral oak barrels and 50% Flextank.
Versatile, goes well with beef, chicken, pasta, great for Summer BBQs.