Anderson Valley Pinot Festival Grand Tasting Report - 6/13/2026

WINE TALK
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First time making a post here on WB, so please be nice :slight_smile: Trying to get into this wine commenting thing.

3rd time visiting Anderson Valley for its Pinot Fest, and it continues to be a spectacularly fun event with great food and even better wine. This year the event was move from mid-May to mid-June and the temperatures were hot, which made drinking / fully evaluating red wines a little difficult.

Overall, I think the quality across the board was outstanding and there is great value to be found regardless of the producer there. But some of my favorites that I tried are below, with a few short comments that I kept in my notes before the # of tastings started to pile up and everything just tasted great:

Whites and Bubbles:

Donum Estate Chardonnay Savoy Vineyard 2023 - Honey Lemon, Brioche, and a little salty. Great texture as well.
Minus Tide Sterling Ranch Chenin Blanc, Mendocino 2023 - Honeysuckle, Crisp pear, wet slate, saline finish
Roederer Estate Clark Road Sparkling Wine 2021 - Toasted almond, bright citrus, creamy bubbles. found it better and more interesting than their NV Champagne

Pinot Noir

Through this event I found that I really enjoy almost every Savoy Vineyard Pinot I tried. Something about that vineyard must be magic. Every Savoy I tried had that forest / bramble nose with great mouthfeel. So I guess I know what to buy going forward.

  • In particular Williams Seylem, Baxter, Littorai, and Donum Estate make stunning examples.
    – The Littorai and Baxter were amazing in different ways, the Littorai was very floral on the nose and quite savory, and the Baxter was dark cherry with bright acidity.

  • MacPhail Toulouse Vineyard 2024 - raspberry / cherry, floral and forest on the nose with good structure and tannins. Great mouthfeel and long finish.

  • Auteur Manchester Ridge 2023 - Bright red fruit, rosemary, a little salty in a good way

  • Drew Fog Eater 2024 - Cranberry and red fruits, some mushroom and forest on the nose

  • Navarro Deep End Pinot 2010 - I didn’t grab notes just remembered it tasted great, got a photo below bc they were pouring out of a 3L.

Others that I had in my notes as a favorite but no tasting notes: Tongue Dancer Anderson Valley 2023, Toulouse Anderson Valley 2023, Minus Tide Manchester Ridge, Thomas T Thomas, Cobb Wendling Vineyard

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That’s Bill! Long time tasting room guy!

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Did you get to taste anything from Oppenlander vineyard? I’ve been consistently happy with every wine I’ve tasted from it.

Was Van/Witching Stick there?

Also perhaps surprising how well the Navarro Deep End does with significant age on it. We had a very good 1998 a year or two ago!

I love this place and have been tasting and hanging out there most summers since 2013 but never to the Pinot fest. Maybe one of these years…

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I think Witching Stick was there, didn’t stop by their tent, but had one of their pinots for dinner at Ledford House the night before.

I tried an Oppenlander from Baxter and Bee Hunter, both were good, I think I just gravitated to the Savoy’s more! Will try to seek it out more next year

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FWIW, Oppenander is in Comptche and I think is outside the Anderson Valley (to the north). Wines from the vineyard strike me as darker fruited than from most of the Anderson Valley.

-Al

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I’m bummed they didn’t ask us this year to be part of it. They inquired last year but I think they ended up not doing it.

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I still have 1 bottle of the '10 Deep End left. The last one was in good shape a couple of years ago. But doesn’t have the structure to go much longer for me.

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Would have loved to see y’all there! My wife and I made a stop at PG last year after we got engaged in Portland

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Curious from those who follow Anderson Valley Pinots:

Which vintages from the last 20 years are the best/worst for the region?