2015 Domaine Anderson Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 750 ml

Domaine Anderson is the no-expense-spared passion project of the family behind Louis Roederer—the Champagne house famous for their meticulous approach to farming and for Cristal, their $250 prestige cuvée. With a sole focus on quality above all else, they employ Burgundy superstar Jeremey Seyesse of Domaine Dujac as a consulting winemaker, and were in the vanguard of organic and biodynamic farming for their perfectly-situated estate vineyard.

That estate vineyard helped put Anderson Valley on the map, as Roederer shocked the California wine community by pouring their money where their vision and expertise told them to—long before the region was considered one of the best in the world for Pinot Noir. They’ve led the way ever since, and the 2015 is “by far, the best vintage yet,” according to Wine & Spirits.

California’s finest restaurants have taken notice, and Domaine Anderson’s Pinots have graced the wine lists at Michelin three-stars like Manresa and Saison, along with institutions like Wolfgang Puck’s Spago and the Four Seasons in San Francisco. While patrons are happy to spend $120 on a bottle at those restaurants, you can bring that luxury experience to your Tuesday night table for a fraction of that: just $24. 

Domaine Anderson’s rich yet taut 2015 Pinot is a perfect example of what makes the Anderson Valley a special place to grow world-class Pinot Noir. It combines French expertise of the highest level with a unique, remote terroir to produce a wine that Wine & Spirits called “classical, old-fashioned Pinot Noir,” while bestowing a 93-point score. With a few years of bottle age on it, it’s drinking beautifully right now, delivering everything we want straight out of the gate.

A dark ruby-garnet in color, the nose bursts with classic California Pinot aromas of black cherry, black tea, damp earth, and candied strawberry. The palate shows Anderson Valley’s regal elegance, with rich cherry jam flavor buttressed by bright raspberry and stony mineral notes. 

All of that would be reason enough for any California wine enthusiast to put a bottle on their dinner table, but we’re able to offer it at a price that made us gasp when we saw it in print: $24 per bottle. 

This is classic Anderson Valley Pinot—proof in one glass that this is one of the world’s great winegrowing regions. With a hint of five-spice lingering as the soft tannins coat the mouth in a long finish, it’s a wine that deserves its usual $50 price tag, in a prime drinking window right now.