2023 Brick and Mortar Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

In Sonoma, there might not be a higher honor than placing a wine on SingleThread's wine list.

The MICHELIN three-star is the region's premier dining destination, and their wine list is formidable. It's packed with the very best from near and far, and only the cream of the crop makes the cut.

Alexis and Matt Iaconis' Brick & Mortar has four different wines on that list, and for good reason. Few wineries in Napa or Sonoma deliver as much quality in their wines—and price them so reasonably. That combination prompted Wine Enthusiast to recognize them for "carving out a broader sense of what's possible" in California as one of their "Innovative New Guard Winemakers."

Winemaker Matt Iaconis was bound for another field—aeronautical engineering—until an elective class at UC Davis piqued his interest in wine. He was hooked. He honed his skills at Piero Antinori's Antica Napa Valley estate, and he's since left his mark in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and France. But it was a summer in Burgundy that cemented his commitment to cool-climate, terroir-driven, European-inspired wines, and in 2011, Brick & Mortar was born.

Matt’s philosophy of crafting site-specific wines with moderate alcohol and bright acidity applies perfectly to sparkling wine, as does his “secret” of hands-off winemaking, a technique rooted in patience. “Less is more,” he says. “Nowadays, while I maintain the wine, I do almost nothing once the wine hits the barrel, and minimal prior to that. I try to ensure the fruit is of the highest quality entering the winery, and stay out of the way from there.”

For this Pinot Noir, that means working with a single vineyard in Carneros, just five miles from San Pablo Bay. The coastal proximity brings cool daytime temperatures that allow for excellent physiological ripening, preserving natural aromatics while developing rich flavor and natural acidity. Matt works with a blend of three different clones—115, 667, and 777—and native-yeast fermentation, which together create exceptional depth and structure while maintaining those beautiful high-toned red fruits Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is known for.