2015 Keller Estate Pinot Noir El Coro Sonoma Coast 750 ml

These Petaluma Gap Pinot Noirs Will Be Gone With The Wind

For many cool-climate Pinot Noir drinkers, the wines of the Petaluma Gap represent a stylistic pinnacle in the New World, blending taut acidity, windblown, wild herb aromatics, oceanic minerality, and rich blue and red fruit. No wonder the likes of Chappellet, Kosta Browne, Wind Gap, and Bedrock snap up the area’s tiny, thick-skinned berries at the first chance.

Keller Estate is a pillar of the region, a pioneering winery that helped lead the push for Petaluma Gap’s AVA recognition alongside folks like David Ramey. Their 2015 “El Coro” is a sensational special release crafted from fruit from the estate’s highest point, where fog clears at the sun’s first touch and vines’ roots dig deep into volcanic loam soil. Some critics have speculated this would be the cuvée that would truly put Petaluma Gap on the map. 

In the eyes of some of the most respected California winemakers like David Ramey, Morgan Twain-Peterson, and Pax Mahle, Petaluma Gap is a source of Sonoma Coast Grand Crus, thanks to a confluence of topographical and meteorological conditions unlike anywhere else in the world. Under the direction of Ana Keller, one of the greatest proponents of Petaluma Gap, Keller Estate has soared to become a shooting star in the AVA, with wines that match impeccable balance with aromatic, savory spices.

It all starts with the wind, as Keller and others will tell you. Salty, powerful breezes off the Pacific are funneled through the 15-mile wide inland valley, buffeting vines and causing berries to develop small clusters and thick skins, packed with phenolic compounds. El Coro’s 20 acres occupy the estate’s highest point, the top of a hill at 500 feet in elevation, where the force of the wind makes you squint into the horizon. This is the first place where the morning fog burns away, filling grapes with sun-warmed concentration. Vines are tightly spaced in iron-rich, volcanic loam soils that once served as the San Pablo Bay ocean bed, lending delicate minerality to these exquisite wines.

Arturo Keller and his wife Deborah had a sense of this region’s unique terroir when they drove through Sonoma’s winding roads in a vintage car and fell in love with the land. Arturo purchased 650 acres and established the estate in 1989 at the southernmost part of Sonoma Coast. Ted Lemon of Littorai fame served as viticulturist, helping to plant 86 acres and nine clones of Pinot Noir. The Kellers’ daughter Ana, a trained biochemist, came onboard in 1998 and within a decade had pushed the winery to the top of the list of Petaluma Gap’s best wineries, stressing organic farming and non-interventionist winemaking.

This 2015 wine preceded the AVA’s recognition in 2018 that Anna helped fight for, and it demonstrates why she won: silky in texture and suffused with layers of forest floor, sandalwood, and red berries, this is Petaluma Gap in a glass and drinking perfectly right now.