2021 Coil Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard Mendocino Ridge 750 ml

Sitting at over 2,700 feet of elevation, the organic, dry-farmed Signal Ridge Vineyard looms above the heavy fog of Anderson Valley.

“It’s at incredibly high elevation, just outside of Boonville,” Josh told us. “The crew has to wear cleats to pick the grapes—it's quite phenomenal.” The site is part of a 100-acre estate that was planted more than a quarter century ago, but it consists of only 18 acres of planted vines that soak in the sunshine and sway in the cool breezes of the Pacific, which is just nine miles away. The Pinot grapes from the vineyard are pitch-perfect, showing outstanding ripeness and verve from the long growing season.

Josh has known the site’s owner, Roger Scommegna, for years. In very serendipitous timing, he was able to offer Josh a ton of his sought-after grapes right around the time of COIL’s first vintages. 

The wine was phenomenal. COIL did not make Pinot Noir in 2020, and this second bottling from Signal Ridge picks up where the first left off, offering a beautiful snapshot of California Pinot at its cool-climate best. 

“We really love the elegance,” Josh said. “The wine is lively, bright, fresh—characteristics that are very consistent with this site. We use about 25-30% whole clusters and age the wine in 15% new oak, mostly in neutral oak and large Burgundy puncheons. The result is a super-pretty, bright, fresh style of Pinot Noir.”

The COIL name evokes the balance, but to Chris Phelps, it conveys something even more crucial to great wine. “My dad always talks about tension in wine,” Josh told us. “Especially Pinot Noir. The great ones truly capture tension, the push and pull between fruit and acid.”