2019 Vivier Wines Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

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 coveted Pinot Noir—chose him to head up his California outpost Hyde de Villaine, whose Pinots scarcely drop below $100. 

Vivier pulled some serious strings to make this wine, sourcing fruit from three top vineyards in the Petaluma Gap, including the high-elevation van der Kamp Vineyard, one of California’s oldest Pinot sites, as well Gap’s Crown, which supplies single-site grapes to Patz & Hall, Sojourn, Dutton-Goldfield, and numerous other Sonoma Pinot icons.  

Vivier always had a precocious nose. At the age of five he’d guess what his mother was making for lunch just based on the aromas. He had his first taste of Pinot Noir at age ten, and later learned winemaking from a neighbor whose family had been producing wine for centuries. After earning degrees in viticulture and enology, he rose through the ranks of the wine world and eventually landed at California’s now-legendary Hyde de Villaine.

Vivier was with Hyde de Villaine until the end of 2020, and now he’s pouring himself into Vivier Wines, bankrolling the venture with a single credit card and initially producing a mere 30 cases of wine. That number has grown only by a few hundred, even as demand has grown to a fever pitch in recent years, and we’re fortunate to have this phenomenal 2019. Aged in seasoned French oak, it’s perfectly spiced, beautifully balanced, and the kind of wine for which Pinot lovers don’t mind paying a mint. Luckily, you don’t have to.