2015 Cruess Wine Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

We love connecting our members with rising star producers before everyone else catches on—there’s no easier way to deliver exceptional wine at a rare value. The light-bodied 2015 Cruess Sonoma Pinot, densely perfumed with black tea, baking spices, and sweet cherry, fine and silky on the palate, hits it out of the park on both counts.

Cruess is at the forefront of the “new wave” of California wine—one of the top small estates quietly reshaping the identity of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with pinpoint precision and grace. A sommelier favorite in the Bay Area, you’ll find it poured at culinary hot spots like Fig & Thistle and Dominique Crenn’s three-star Petit Crenn (where we happened across it ourselves).

Our discovery of this bottle happened to be paired with a mouthwatering fresh spring trout in sauce vierge during dinner at Petit Crenn last month. The somm himself had only recently become acquainted with Alissa and Anthony Beckman, the couple behind Cruess. “For the value, it outshines so many other well-known Sonoma Pinot producers who are charging crazy prices these days. Allocations are really hard to come by, but so worth it.”

That was our cue to hunt down as many bottles as we could find to put in the cellars of Wine Access members. Anthony Beckman had already wowed as winemaker at Russian River Valley stalwart Balletto Vineyards, whose estate-grown Pinots vibrate with power and tension. He’s taken a lighter touch with Cruess, but you can still sense the richness that comes from years of working with superb Russian River Valley fruit.