Alcohol: 13%
Grape(s): Pinot Noir
Localization: Sonoma County, California
Tasting Notes: Dark garnet in color, the Valravn Pinot Noir explodes out of the glass with rich scents of blackberry compote, cinnamon, and cedar. While showing the salty balance of cool-climate Pinot Noir, the wine exudes concentrated black fruits on the palate, coming from the Russian River vineyards, which comprised about 40% of the blend. An unctuous palate weight balances flavors of cassis, black plum, and framboise. The wine has excellent complexity and plays in a category far above its modest price point.
Notes: In the cellar, hand-sorted grapes undergo cold soak followed by primary fermentation in small open-top stainless steel tanks. Following primary, the wine was transferred to a blend of 20% new Cavin, François Freres, Remond, Fouailly and Tremeaux barrels for 12 months malolactic and aging.
The Domain: Valravn Pinot Noir is an exploration of Sonoma County, anchored in the Russian River Valley. Vineyards span at far NORTH as Annapolis, EAST as Sonoma Mountain, WEST as Freestone, SOUTH as Petaluma Gap. Noteable vineyards include Starscape (Middle Reach - Russian River AVA), Bohemian (Green Valley - Russian River AVA), Cleary Ranch (Freestone-Occidental - Russian River AVA), Sunnyslope (Bennett Valley AVA), Gap’s Crown (Petaluma Gap - Sonoma Coast AVA), and Durell (Los Carneros - Sonoma Coast AVA).
The team behind Valravn has been making wine in Sonoma County for over ten years. Along the way, they’ve established a dynamic network of friends and colleagues that include vineyard owners, growers and winemakers. Because of those forged relationships and friendships, they secured exclusive access to grapes from fantastic vineyards, overseeing hands-on production from vineyard to bottle. While they successfully navigated and maneuvered their way through the negociant market in the past, the next evolutionary step for the team was Valravn.
Launched in 2014, Valravn started with Zinfandel from a friend’s property that they were not going to use for their own production (and not just any zinfandel grapes; these were the old, bush-pruned gnarly vines, envied by every winemaker). In 2017, the range was expanded to include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon from key sites throughout Sonoma County.
Today, the team at Valravn continue to see out similar opportunities, finding a parcel here and a row there and then they bring it all together to craft quintessential Sonoma County wines, out of the gate approachable, delicious and table ready.
