2014 Westwood Estate Winery Pinot Noir Annadel Gap Vineyard 750 ml

Most Exciting New Pinot Noir Since Kosta Browne and Kistler

We first met David Ramey in the early 1980s. After stints at Dominus, Chalk Hill, and Matanzas Creek, Ramey hung out his own shingle and soon became one of Russian River Valley’s most brilliant stars. Over the last 15 years in the valley, there are three names that have ruled the roost: Kistler, Kosta Browne, and Ramey. Everyone else takes a back seat.

But there’s something else that we’ve always found endearing about David. In an industry where people tend to sugar-coat and shape wine criticism so as not to offend winemakers, Ramey shoots from the hip. If he doesn’t like a wine, he tells you. And on the rare occasion when a winery startup blows him away with its first releases? Ramey waxes eloquent.

On March 10th, Ramey sent us an email, writing:

“Long time, no lunch! I write to introduce you to Westwood Winery, owned by Carl Stanton, the managing partner of Wellspring Capital Management in NYC, and Nat Taylor, who lives outside Philadelphia, and is a partner in HH Partners. Westwood owns vineyards in Sonoma Valley, positioned in the Annadel Gap. The wines are GREAT, starting with 2014, in bottle, and the 2015’s are even more promising. I thought I’d make the introduction, as this is a legitimate, unknown brand, and you may be able to help them establish themselves.”

When David Ramey talks, we listen. We sent a followup email to Chris Vyenielo, the Westwood GM. Last week, six tiny-production, estate-grown 2014 Westwood Pinot Noirs arrived at HQ. We tasted the wines over the course of three days.

You heard it here first: Westwood is the most exciting new Pinot Noir property in Sonoma Valley and, from a commercial perspective, it’s poised to take a page right out of a Kosta Browne script.

This 37-acre vineyard at the northern edge of Sonoma Valley is situated in the heart of a narrow pass between the Sonoma Mountains and Mount Hood, locally referred to as the Annadel Gap. Here morning fog from the Pacific conspires with gentle summer winds to create a magical microclimate for growing world-class Pinot Noir.

On a followup call, Ramey explained what made 2014 superb in the Annadel Gap. Bud break came in early April, followed by a fairly mild and consistent growing season. Tiny-berry Pinot Noir clusters ripened gracefully, reaching full maturity by late August. Despite a warm growing season, there were no significant heat spikes and harvest came early. The harvest went off without a glitch, requiring little work on the sorting table. While sugars came in at a lofty 24-25 Brix, due to the cooling influence of morning and evening fog, total acidity remained firm at 5.6g/L.

The 2014 Westwood Estate Pinot Noir Annadel Gap Vineyard is magnificent. Brilliant dark-ruby to the rim, infused with luscious, finely delineated aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, and sweet spice, with hints of new-wood vanilla. Rich, juicy, and flashy on the attack, filled with a high-toned mix of crushed red fruits and cherry, finishing with terrific tension and persistence. Drink now-2022.

93 points and a “Highly Recommended” designation from Wine Enthusiast. $49 on release. $35 today. 600 bottles are up for grabs, and yes, this is a CASE-buy.