2016 Capiaux Pinot Noir Widdoes Vineyard Russian River Valley 750 ml

“It’s an honest steal at the price,” our VP of Wine Eduardo Dingler said as he passed this bottle around the table. And Eduardo, Napa’s unofficial mayor and the guy who oversaw over 20 restaurants around the globe, knows a thing or two about wine prices. “Anyone who loves Russian River Pinot knows that for a single-vineyard bottling the price is practically unheard of.” 

And he’s right. At $39.99 (and $29.99 on cases) this 2016 Capiaux Widdoes Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is a rare value—we bargain hard on behalf of our members, and most of our Russian River wines still cost at least $50. But with his love letter to Sonoma Pinot Noir from Widdoes’ 37-year-old dry-farmed vines, winemaker Sean Capiaux is giving wine lovers everywhere something to celebrate.

Sourced from the Dutton Ranch Widdoes Vineyard in the Green Valley sub-AVA of Russian River, Capiaux (a veteran of Jordan, Pine Ridge, Peter Michael, and currently at O’Shaughnessy) has imbued this crimson red with his 25+ years as a light-touch winemaker—in other words, he lets the fantastic Widdoes Vineyard do all the talking.

Offering fresh florals, wild berry flavors, and a velvety texture, Vinous’ Antonio Galloni found it an “imposing, brooding Pinot” in his 93+ point review. Considering RRV heavyweight DuMol also makes a Widdoes Vineyard Pinot ($90), Capiaux’s version is an over-delivering champion and extremely savvy pickup at $39.99, down to $29.99 on cases (29% off SRP). 

Following the drought year of 2015, the excellent 2016 growing season brought uniform ripeness and a stellar crop from the dry-farmed vines at Widdoes. A steady, mild growing season helped concentrate fruit flavors while imbuing grapes with a healthy dose of acidity. Capiaux, who also works with Pisoni and Gap’s Crown fruit, couldn’t ask for a better segue from the previous low-yielding vintage. 

Once harvested, Capiaux employs a minimalist approach with the Beringer clone Pinot grapes from Widdoes: He relies on natural fermentation, abstains from fining and filtering, and rarely uses more than one-third new oak. In excellent vintages, we can’t get enough of his standout wines, and Capiaux’s 2016 Widdoes Pinot gets a standing ovation.

Eduardo summed up the Capiaux Widdoes Vineyard Pinot succinctly saying, “Its overwhelming popularity among not only my staff but our clientele made it a huge hit.” If our tasting panel is any indication, we expect the same reaction here.