2018 Sonoma getting high praise from Jeb Dunnuck

He is pondering it being the best vintage ever for Pinot Noir in Sonoma County. Wow!


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Hi Brian, I’m surprised there is not more buzz about this on the board. This was the only thread I could find on the subject. My first heads up on the vintage was the praise from Rivers Marie and Littorai back in January. I took a break from buying for several years so great vintage to do some restocking for the future. I purchased RM and Littorai and just signed up and purchased Failla. Vinous(AG) has a great write up on the vintage as well. AG was very high on Failla wines. For those who are looking for great wines that you can immediately join the mailing list Failla is one of them. I’ve always enjoyed their pinot’s and it looks like they killed it in 18.

“Psst Fred, points don’t matter.” [stirthepothal.gif]

I went long on 2018 wines. Getting expensive but the payback is going to be huge…

I went long on 2018 as well. Heard good things from people (not critics) I trust. If not for the pandemic, I’d have traveled to taste. Am hoping the situation stabilizes this spring so I can feel a little more comfortable traveling.

Am I the only one that thinks Dunnuck gives high praise to everything?

He’s a good 2-3 points higher than Antonio Galloni it seems (except for the recent Realm The Bard, both 98s), I know not Pinot Noir, but that recent score is fresh in my mind… With that being said I really enjoyed a recent 2018 Maxem Pinot Noir (still needs some time, but man the quality/purity of fruit), and a few zins (A. Rafanelli, and Bedrock).

FWIW, I heard Mike Officer state on a Zoom event that the 2018 Sonoma Zinfandels are consistently outstanding. I have a lot of confidence in his opinion. So, I have been looking for any wines that have “2018,” “Zinfandel” and “Sonoma” (or any AVA in Sonoma County) on the label.

[thumbs-up.gif]

It seems like it and he seems to really like the more full bodied modern styles more. I actually care more about the notes and the description than the actual points. They both do a good job describing the wine which usually tells me if I’ll like it. My palate is more aligned to AG.

2018 should be a heck of a vintage for both Sonoma and Napa. Hope to taste next year as well.

Every winemaker I have spoken to has said that the 2018 growing season in Northern California was absolutely perfect. An example I have mentioned before is Scott Schultz of Jolie Laide whose wines I adore. When I picked up the Spring release of the 2018’s in May of 2019, “Speaking with Scott while I was tasting the wines, I mentioned that his 2018’s were all delicious. He smiled and gave my quote of the year so far. "2018 was the perfect growing season. No heat spikes but still warm. All I did was stay the fk out of the way”.**

The full report is here. https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/jolie-laide-wines-pick-up-and-open-house-5-11-2019/152139/1

Every winemaker, at least in Sonoma has said the same thing. You can buy 2018’s with full confidence.

Tom

2019 is looking nearly identical in speaking with several winemakers.

2020… well… hitsfan

Good to hear about the 2019s! Brian, is this specifically for Sonoma, or was 2019 a good year in Napa as well? I’ve loaded up on 2018s from Sonoma and Napa, but was just curious about the 2019 vintage.

Napa as well Chris.

Me too!

Funny, Jeb Dunnuck was saying the same thing back in May. [wink.gif]

I feel like every score he hands out is 96+. I’m clearly exaggerating, but am I? [pwn.gif]

There is a separate thread about how good the 2018 zins are. The hype is justified there.

I will say I really like our 2018s (as do the critics) but our 2019s are even better. The two years had very similar conditions but a slightly lower crop in 2019 upped the intensity a touch, while still keeping excellent balance.

Paul

I know the Ridge team spoke very highly of 2018 in more than one of the Zoom seminars they did. At least in terms of the Zins.

That’s a big relief, because I’m close to tapped out on 2018 purchases…

Rightfully so. I had a chance to try Ponzo, Pagani and East Bench yesterday, they were all great (Pagani needs time though).

Rhys received some very high scores from Jeb… 2018 Alpine Hillside 100 points