2016 Long Meadow Ranch Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 750 ml

When our Master Sommelier Sur Lucero sat us down to taste the work of the Burgundy-meets-California master behind some of the most exquisite and expensive Pinots in the state, our hopes were high—and the first sip managed to surpass them. Supple and silky, rich and fleshy-fruited, the Pinot Noir he poured was drinking perfectly. As soon as the long finish faded, we guessed at the price—starting at $65. 

“Guess again,” Sur said, showing a sly smile that got a little wider as our guesses ticked slowly upward. Eventually, he stopped us. “Winery price is $46…” he said as he poured us a little more, and we murmured about the miraculous price. And then he dropped the bombshell: “But I’ve got it locked in at $29.” 

You can thank Sur’s lifelong Napa connections—not to mention his shrewd negotiating skills—for landing the 2016 Long Meadow Ranch Pinot Noir Anderson Valley for just $29. This is the work of one of California’s finest Old World-style Pinot Noir masters—at 1/4 the price of his best-known bottles.

We can’t think of a California winemaker with a more sterling pedigree than Stéphane Vivier: Consider that Aubert de Villaine of Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti—which makes the world’s most precious Pinot Noir, priced from $1,200 to $13,000 (really)—chose Vivier to head up his California outpost Hyde de Villaine, which you can scarcely find for less than $120 per bottle. Which is why today’s deal is so stunning, and one we can’t count on coming again soon. 

“It’s always better to let nature do its thing,” Vivier told us about his winemaking philosophy. “You don’t want to touch too much. Let the grapes speak.” 

It makes perfect sense, when you’re working with the kind of grapes that Vivier has at his fingertips. In 2016, he parlayed that fruit into a Wine Enthusiast 93-point Pinot that brings juicy plum and red berry tones, with fresh rose petal and cherry cola notes at the center, and a round and opulent palate that expands in volume on the finish, carrying beautiful notes of smoked dark cherry and vanilla cream. 

The 640-acre Long Meadow Ranch in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains was founded in 1872, and purchased in 1989 by the Hall family, who later expanded to Anderson Valley to take advantage of some of the finest Pinot Noir terroir in California. Located in the “Deep End” (the western part) of Anderson Valley, their 69 acres of organically farmed vines enjoy the natural marine layer that blankets the vineyards and allows the Pinot Noir to ripen slowly, steadily, and perfectly. 

With such precious Pinot Noir resources, the Halls availed themselves of one of California’s finest Burgundy-style winemakers in Vivier, the Hyde de Villaine ace who jokingly calls himself the “Lazy Winemaker.” It’s less a reference to his work ethic, and more to the philosophy of viticulture he absorbed from his elders growing up in Burgundy. Vivier holds degrees in viticulture and enology from the University of Bordeaux, but his first mentor was a neighbor, an old gentleman who learned his non-interventionist “pragmatique” approach not in the classroom, but firsthand in the fields. He passed that ethos on to Stéphane. 

In 2016, after an early budbreak and quick-starting spring, the Pinot at Long Meadow Ranch ripened slowly and ideally through a moderate summer. After harvest, the hands-off Vivier aged the Pinot in 25% new and 75% neutral French oak, letting the Anderson Valley fruit shine through, and giving it a supple kiss of vanilla cream on the finish. 

Today, the Pinot isn’t just speaking, but singing—and at a quarter of the price of Vivier’s top California bottles, you’ll want to burst into song, too.