2021 Cobb Wines Pinot Noir Doc's Ranch Vineyard Sonoma Coast 750 ml

Cobb Wines came to life through the hands of Ross and Stephen Cobb, alongside their folks David and Diane, who started out as home winemakers with a backyard vineyard in Mill Valley. They delved into viticulture classes at Santa Rosa Junior College by night, with David cultivating wine as a personal passion. 

The couple decided to go pro in 1989, relocating to Occidental. There, atop a hill with a view of Bodega Bay, the whole family worked together to plant four acres of Pinot Noir: Coastlands Vineyard. Williams-Selyem bought the first five vintages of the fruit, and they vineyard-designate a Coastlands Pinot Noir to this day.

The family launched Cobb Wines in 2001, and part of Ross's business plan—like luminaries Littorai and Peay—was to focus primarily on restaurants. That has paid off: The wines are in the greatest restaurants in Northern California, so consequently there's not a lot to go around at retail.

Doc’s Ranch was originally planted in 1999, barely down the ridgeline from the Cobbs’ original Coastlands Vineyard in the extreme Sonoma Coast, but it wasn’t until 2017 that it came into the Cobb Wines fold. Owner Bryon Sheets reached out to Ross Cobb to see if he'd be interested in managing the vineyard, and Ross raised him one: He’d take over the farming and also commit to a long-term lease, making it functionally another estate vineyard.

Planted with tighter spacing to encourage vine competition, Doc’s Ranch warms up a little earlier in the day than its neighbor, and so often has prettier, more silken fruit to its profile—without sacrificing the verve and kinetic energy that defines Cobbs’ best bottles.