Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery Sea Slopes Pinot Noir

2023 Vintage Tasted: Feb 2025

Vibrant and racy aromas of cherries, raspberries, blood oranges and spices. The light-bodied palate has crunchy tannins and bright acidity, showing potpourri, violets and cedar. Very vivid and energetic. Great value with high drinkability. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

92 / 100 Wine Review Online

2022 Vintage Tasted: Feb 2025

This Jeff Pisoni shepherded wine opens with a charming black cherry and cranberry nose enhanced by soft fall spice accents. Lively acidity carries the flavors and a nice damp earth note that pops up on the palate in the finish. All the elements ride out together in lengthy, mouthwatering fashion. This is a fine light red for solo sipping, or one to enjoy with a roast chicken with herbs. 92 Rich Cook

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92 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2022 Vintage Tasted: Sep 2024

Leading with aromas of fresh cranberry and cherry, this darkly fruited but lightly colored Pinot is savory and dramatic. The palate gives flavors of fried black cherry, shiitake, black tea and salted caramel. Drink this with crispy roasted duck.

2022 Vintage Tasted: Jul 2024

Lovely, delicate and delicious. Lifted and delicately perfumed aromas of fresh strawberries, tea leaves and violets on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with a generous texture, finely integrated tannins and bright acidity complemented by notes of raspberries, cherries, cedar and forest floor. Screw cap. Drink or hold.

90 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2021 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2023

Nicely ripe fruit and a rather warm, soft mouthfeel make this medium-bodied wine easy to like. Red cherries, cherry pie and a slight cranberry slant keep the flavors interesting, while light tannins and a nip of acidity add good balance.

2019 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2022

Give this a second to breathe and you will be greeted with aromas of ripe strawberries, red cherries, violets and tobacco. Medium-bodied with soft tannins. Well balanced and slightly mineral. Pleasantly bright. Drink now. Screw cap.

94 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2019 Vintage Tasted: Dec 2021

Opening in a burst of berry with tannic energy, this wine shows impressive length, grace and complexity. Forest, black tea and clove accent a core of raspberry, pomegranate and cranberry, with a pretty rose petal accent throughout. Virginie Boone

91 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2018 Vintage Tasted: Jul 2021

Demure fruit highlights a silky body of delicate, varietal layers in this well-made wine. Rounded, it offers a balanced approach to richness, an exploration of dark cherry, pomegranate and forest floor. Virginie Boone

92 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2017 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2020

This red offers outstanding value for the quality: a balanced, textured and varietally satisfying expression of coastal coolness and acidity. Earthy flavors of tea, cola, black licorice and dried herb provide an exoticism amidst elegant layers of orange peel and cranberry. Virginie Boone

2017 Vintage Tasted: Sep 2019

Aromas of wild red flowers and red cherries, as well as raspberries here. The palate has a gently creamy texture with fine, supple and even-paced tannins, carrying vibrant, fresh-fruit flavors. Drink now. Screw cap.

2016 Vintage Tasted: Oct 2018

A vibrant, red-fruited style of pinot that has a wealth of gently grippy tannins and a convincingly long palate that holds a clear, juicy finish. Drink now.

92 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2016 Vintage Tasted: Oct 2018

This is an impressive selection from Winemaker Jeff Pisoni. A hint of forest-floor spice and strong flavors of dark cherry and orange combine on a light, silky texture. This offers a great sense of finesse within a framework of structure and freshness. Virginie Boone

2015 Vintage Tasted: Feb 2017

A full and juicy wine with lots of dried strawberry, tobacco, cedar, and hints of dried meat on the nose and palate. Decadent and rich. So delicious now.

94 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2015 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2017

This wine offers astounding quality for the price, a juicy expression of fruit and spice with a depth of firm resolved tannin, lively acidity and layers of black cherry and cola. Approachable and delicious, it hits the mark on every level being light bodied and refreshingly balanced while complex.

PRO Jancis Robinson

2012 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2015

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93 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2012 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2015

Pleasantly pungent in ripe damson plum, this Pinot has lovely acidity, giving it a spicy mouthfeel around firmly present tannins. Full-bodied midpalate, the wine mellows through to the finish, ending in juicy fruit and earth.

91 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2011 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2014

You'll find deliciously ripe raspberry and cherry flavors in this wine, making it instantly appealing. Yet it's so bright with acidity, and so deeply complex with earthy, mushroomy notes, it's sure to gain some traction in the cellar over the next few years. You can drink it now if you want, but give it an hour or so in a decanter.

95 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2010 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2013

Here's more proof that sometimes a winery's least expensive bottling can be its best. The wine is first class, from the translucent ruby color to the power and delicacy of the mouthfeel. There's something haunting and distinctly Fort Ross-ian in the wild cherry, mushroom and pine flavors that seem to echo the fog, sun and redwood forests of this remote region. Really delicious now and through 2018 or so.

2009 Vintage Tasted: Oct 2011

This is a little disappointing compared to the other Fort Ross wines. Slightly alcoholic on nose with clay and dark fruit overtones. It's a full-bodied wine with candied strawberries character and a long, lingering finish. Drink now.

90 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2009 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2011

Fruit is the star of this wine. It's gigantic and forward in sweet raspberry and cherry flavors that taste wild, picked under a hot summer sun. Fortunately, there's a lot of acidity, and firm tannins provide additional structure. The finish is thoroughly dry. A bit in your face now, but could do interesting things over the years.

91 / 100 Wine Spectator

2022 Vintage Tasted: Nov 2024

90 / 100 Wine Spectator

2018 Vintage Tasted: Aug 2021

89 / 100 Wine Spectator

2017 Vintage Tasted: May 2020

88 / 100 Wine Spectator

2013 Vintage Tasted: Jun 2016