2019 Fred Schrader's Boars’ View Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

For years, we heard rumors about Boar's View—Fred Schrader's Pinot project, grown right above the legendary cult Pinot Marcassin. Many of our favorites come from near this prime location in the True Sonoma Coast: the fog-draped, towering redwoods and steep hills near Cazadero, where wines like Hirsch, Flowers, and Martinelli's Blue Slide Ridge are grown.

Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown has made forty 100-point wines for Fred Schrader, so we couldn't wait to see what he could do with this 10-acre wind-whipped site. Eventually, we got our hands on the 2019—and it lived up to every bit of the hype. This Pinot is simply spectacular: rich, juicy, and muscular, with intense aromas, silky tannins, and a long-lasting finish.

In 2007, Schrader Cellars was riding high on its Napa Cabernets, but a new obsession had taken hold. Pinot-fanatic and Schrader winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown was already making waves with his Rivers-Marie wines, and Fred Schrader—another Pinotphile—wasn't going to be outdone. 

Together, Schrader, Brown, and farming legend Ulises Valdez identified a 10-acre site adjacent to Helen Turley's Marcassin Vineyard and planted it to low-yielding Calera, Swan, and Mt. Eden clones. It was a spot-on decision in every way—the same attention to farming and terroir details that made Schrader a cult in Napa paid off in Cazadero.

The 2019 vintage delivered ideal conditions on the True Sonoma Coast. A long, cool growing season driven by persistent marine influence kept the vines in check through the summer months, and a dry, warm September brought the fruit to perfect maturity without sacrificing the freshness and tension that define this appellation at its best.

The 2019 bursts from the glass with a bouquet of lilac and red rose, layered over crushed licorice, vanilla, and a hint of kola nut. The palate is bold and juicy, with plenty of dark berries, dried herbs, and a whisper of cocoa, all framed by silky tannins and a long-lasting finish. This is a next-level Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir—one that competes with anything Marcassin, Williams-Selyem, or Kosta Browne could put in the bottle.