2016 Marimar Estate Pinot Noir Dona Margarita Vineyard Metodo Antiguo Sonoma Coast 750 ml

Single-vineyard Pinot Noirs from the Pacific-kissed Doña Margarita vineyard are bold. They’re silky. They’re delightfully juicy. And they almost never come at a bargain price. 

Kelleher makes a $65 bottle there. Alma Fria’s is $60. This very 2016 Marimar Método Antiguo—from Wine Enthusiast’s top-scoring Sonoma vintage of the decade—has a $64 SRP.

And that’s the price a wine of this caliber deserves. “You can sense the care and attention to detail that has gone into this bottling,” Master Sommelier Sur Lucero said when he tasted this wine’s red-fruit vivacity and spicy depth. Marimar has taken the vineyard’s famed Goldridge soils, Pacific influence, and high-density planting—a trifecta of Pinot terroir excellence—and polished their 2016 into a juicy, nuanced gem. 

Which should have every fan of Sonoma Pinot Noir should be ready to pack away a case—and we've got this 2016 Marimar Estate Método Antiguo for under $30. 

Marimar Torres, the willful, visionary woman behind this renowned estate, hails from a winemaking legacy in Spain that carries the same historical weight and pedigree that Robert Mondavi does here. So for her, excellence is just the baseline, and it shows in her selection of the Doña Margarita Vineyard. 

The site is situated on the Bohemian Highway, between Freestone and Occidental, cooled by the brisk winds of the Pacific, just six miles away. Its 20 acres are planted at a high density—a technique found in many high-quality Old World vineyards—which helps to yield generously concentrated grapes, balanced with bright acidity thanks to brisk Pacific breezes. 

The 2016 vintage drew the absolute best out of that site. Antonio Galloni called the season “one of the most consistently brilliant and alluring young vintages I have ever tasted in Sonoma.” James Suckling said that the Sonoma Coast’s 2016 bottles’ “​​sense of place... is what great wine is all about.”

The 2016 Método Antiguo bursts out of the gate with brilliant red-fruit and forest herb aromas that introduce a juicy and voluminous palate with ever-deepening flourishes of licorice, kirsch liqueur, and cherry cola. Each note, each intricacy, is intentional, skillfully teased out by Marimar’s detail-focused winemaking team.

Método Antiguo means “old method” in Spanish, a reference to the traditional style of vinification used for this Pinot. When the Marimar team brought this gorgeous Pommard clone Pinot Noir in from the vineyard, they fermented it whole-cluster with indigenous yeasts, which gave the wine its silky midpalate. From there, they laid it down in 33% new oak barrels to develop polish and complex spice notes. 

At a huge discount, this is an incredible Pinot Noir, and an even better value. Don’t settle for just one bottle.