Hirsch Vineyards Pinot Noirs (Organic)
The Bohan Dillon
San Andreas Fault
Perched on a ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Fort Ross, Hirsch Vineyards is the birth ground of great Pinot Noir on the extreme Sonoma Coast. David Hirsch founded the vineyard in 1980 to grow fruit and make site-specific wine. From the start, all efforts have been on the growing of fruit that makes wines profoundly characteristic of the site vintage after vintage.
The wines from Hirsch Vineyards give the passionate drinker an experience of the clash of opposites meeting in nature and life: the edge of the continent washed by the sea; the eviternal grinding of the North American and Pacific plates along the San Andreas Fault; the wet winters and dry summers caused by the ocean and desert climates; the dripping rainforest and parched pastures; the contact and intermingling of cultures: Native American, Mexican, Russian, European; the change in rural economy from logging and ranching to winegrowing. In the wines of Hirsch Vineyards you find a natural balance and consistency in the harmonious resolution of these opposites. This complex, unique site produces fruit and wines of unusual acidity and balance with a vintage specific concentration of pinot noir or chardonnay fruit. These are wines to be enjoyed now or laid down for future consumption.
The on-site winery was started in 2002, and winemaker Anthony Filiberti (Anthill and others) has joined the team to craft some of the most compelling wines of this ‘grand cru’ quality vineyard. Every effort has been made to integrate the winemaking with farming to produce wines that have site typicity: rich pinot fruit married to a profound acidic complexity finished with deep, evolved natural tannins.
Hirsch Vineyards Bohan-Dillon Estate Pinot Noir is an affordable world-class wine that shows the full spectrum of the Hirsch Vineyard. Made 100% from Hirsch fruit, it represents exceptional value from the True Sonoma Coast. This wine is produced using the exact same winemaking methods and with the same attention to detail as with the other Hirsch pinots, thereby ensuring a wine of great quality, traditional varietal character, and sense of place.
95 points, Wine Enthusiast: This wine is such an outstanding value for outstanding quality, it’s crazy. Bright, effusive and lingering in freshly picked berry spice, it offers tension and verve on the palate, showing balanced acidity and lovely, complex accents of lavender and white pepper.
94 Points, James Suckling: Aromas of ripe strawberries with some pine needles and dried seaweed follow through to a medium body with fine, linear tannins that are racy and class. Subtle finish. Give it time to soften, but already so pretty.
San Andreas Fault is Hirsch Vineyards’ signature Pinot Noir and is crafted to represent the entirety of this multifaceted vineyard. The 2013 San Andreas Fault has fruit from 24 of Hirsch’s 61 distinct farming blocks, more than any other wine made from the Hirsch Vineyard. It is the flagship wine from Hirsch and the wine that represents the summation of this complex vineyard.
95 points, Jeb Dunnuck: The 2018 Pinot Noir San Andreas Fault is one of the more up-front, fruit-driven wines in the lineup. It offers ample Bing cherry and almost blackberry and mulberry-like fruit supported by sappy herb and flower aromas and flavors. Nicely textured on the palate, medium to full-bodied, up-front and juicy, it has lots of charm and will unquestionably continue to drink nicely for at least 7-8 years, and I suspect even longer.