2023 J. Bucher Pinot Noir Bucher Vineyard Russian River Valley 750 ml

Bucher Vineyard is one of the greatest vineyards in Russian River. Consider that Williams Selyem—who sources their single-vineyard Pinots ONLY from all-star sites—has made a Bucher Pinot for over two decades.

Pinot from the 38 acres of vines on the Bucher site go to a tiny list of quality-obsessed clients like WS—but the family holds back a little of their prime fruit for their own label. Their wines are made by legendary winemaker Adam Lee, who’s known for founding Siduri, and for the chorus of Parker praise that has followed his rich, textured Pinot Noirs over the decades.

Adam Lee is one of the great success stories in California wine, and a legend among Sonoma Pinot producers. He started Siduri in 1994 with his wife—bootstrapped, no estate vineyards, out of a warehouse—at a time when all those things were eyebrow-raising in the wine world.

He was heavily influenced by Burt Williams and Ed Selyem—of Williams Selyem, of course—and Adam really knew how to make full-bodied, seductively textured Pinot. By his second vintage, he’d already attracted the rapturous praise of Robert Parker, who anointed Siduri a Next Hot Thing: “I am immensely impressed with the Pinot Noirs being fashioned by this small artisanal producer.”

Adam came on board as J. Bucher’s winemaker with the 2011 vintage—and started sourcing grapes for Siduri the following year, he was so impressed with what he saw. More than a decade on, the 2023 vintage handed him one of Sonoma’s most admired growing seasons in recent memory: cool and unhurried from bud to harvest, with a long hang time that built uncommon freshness and depth into the fruit.

Aged in French oak that polished the tannins and lent a gentle baking-spice tone, it’s a stunner, pure and simple.