2013 Lutum Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard Sonoma Coast 750 ml

“Top 10 Wines of The Year” — Ray Isle, Food & Wine Magazine

Spanning virtually the entire coastline, and stretching as much as 30 miles inland, Sonoma Coast is California’s most meaningless AVA. The vast majority of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs are heavy, plodding, and uninteresting. But in the very southern portion of the AVA, where the winds gust with such force that it bends poplar trees nearly in half, there is one vineyard that rises above the rest — Gap’s Crown.

We’ve long sung the praises of the Petaluma Wind Gap. The daily dance of wind and fog allows sugars to develop more slowly than further inland, allowing growers to pick late without worrying about overripeness, high alcohols, or acidity. First planted by Napa winegrowing legend Bill Hill — who is to ideal Pinot Noir vineyards what Johnny Appleseed was to American orchards — Gap’s Crown is famously cold and rocky. One of the colder sites on Sonoma Coast, Gap’s Crown peers over the mouth of the Petaluma Gap, yielding rich, wound-up, high-toned Pinot Noir, buttressed by the electrifying acidity of the fog-shrouded coast, and renowned for its superb persistence.

We took note when several top winemakers working the Sonoma Coast used the same exact words — “near perfect” — to describe the 2013 harvest. The fruit set was large for the second year in a row, a welcome change from the back-to-back tiny-yield vintages of 2010 and 2011. Little rain fell during the growing season, but most importantly, daytime highs remained mild, rarely creeping into the mid-80s. Nights were cool, leading to a dramatic diurnal temperature shift that accounted for the small-berry clusters.

At just 30 years of age, Gavin Chanin has earned the right to be mentioned among the Sonoma Coast elite. Food & Wine Magazine named him “Winemaker of the Year” and Forbes put Chanin on its list of “30 Under 30.” Take one sip of this remarkable 2013 Lutum Pinot Noir off Gap’s Crown and you won’t wonder why Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called it “seamless and exceedingly pretty and elegant” and awarded it 94 points.

After lamenting the overabundance of Pinot Noir he was sent to sample at Food & Wine Magazine (oh, the humanity!), editor Ray Isle named this “spicy, silky, beautifully structured red” his favorite new California Pinot of the year and placed it among his Top 10 Wines of the Year!

If you’re a California Pinot Noir or Burgundy collector, this is a coup. ONE BARREL — or 300 bottles — is up for grabs. Like STEALING … at $55/bottle. Shipping included on 4.