2013 Foxen Winery Pinot Noir Solomon Hills Vineyard is sold out.

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  • 94 pts Wine Advocate
    94 pts RPWA
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2013 Foxen Winery Pinot Noir Solomon Hills Vineyard 750 ml

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  • Curated by unrivaled experts
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  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

Of Robert Parker 94pt Reviews and Shrinking WineAccess Allocations

The Solomon Hills Vineyard takes its name from Salomon Pico, a bandit who in the 1850s wreaked havoc along this narrow stretch of the Santa Maria Valley. While Pico’s name may not ring a bell, many of us recall countless childhood afternoons glued to a black-and-white tube watching “Zorro,” the fictionalized adventures inspired by Pico’s exploits.

First planted in the 1990s by the Miller family (owners of neighboring Bien Nacido Vineyard), the soils here are primarily composed of fine, sandy loam. Because this is the westernmost planting in the Santa Maria Valley AVA, with the Pacific roaring just a few miles away, Solomon Hills ranks among the coolest Pinot Noir sites in the United States.

In the unusually hot summer of 2013 — the second in a string of four drought years — cold maritime breezes cleansed Solomon Hills, taking the sting out of the Southern California sun. The call to pick was postponed well after harvest began at warmer inland sites, giving the tiny crop of small-berry Pinot Noir extra hang-time. At harvest, the fruit was incredibly sweet, even as sugars remained perfectly in check. Acids, as always at Solomon Hills, were bracing, making for one of the most extraordinary American Pinot Noir releases of 2015.

The 2013 Foxen Vineyard Pinot Noir Solomon Hills is that rare coastal Pinot that has growers in the Côte de Nuits quaking in their boots! Given the vintage, the site, and a cellar protocol drawn directly from a Grand Cru Chambertin script, that’s not all that surprising. Foxen’s chosen Block 50 is planted to the Pommard and Dijon clones 115 and 667. Night-harvested to preserve vibrancy, vinified at cool temperatures over the course of three weeks, the barrel regimen is classical: 100% French, 40% new. The wine spent 17 months in barrel and was racked just twice (without pumping). Bottled without fining OR filtration.

94 points from Robert Parker. $49.99/bottle. 28 cases are up for grabs. Not to be missed by serious red Burgundy and California Pinot Noir collectors.