Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Nid Tissé – Pinot Noir 2023
Radian Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills AVA, California – USA 🇺🇸

Overview
From the windswept, western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, the Radian Vineyard is known for producing some of the most structured and site-expressive Pinot Noir in California. Nid Tissé (“woven nest” in French) reflects this sense of intricacy and place, highlighting the cool-climate purity and intensity that the appellation is famed for. 100% Pinot Noir.

Aromas & Flavors
Red cherry, cranberry, and wild strawberry upfront, layered with rose petal, dried herbs, and hints of baking spice. A subtle undercurrent of sea spray and stony minerality underscores the vineyard’s coastal terroir.

Mouthfeel
Linear, energetic, and elegant. Medium-bodied with fine, chalky tannins and vibrant acidity. The wine shows both precision and depth, finishing with a long, mineral-driven echo of red fruit and spice.

Winemaking Notes
Small-lot fermentation with partial whole-cluster inclusion to lift aromatics and add structure. Aged in French oak barrels (approx. 25–30% new), allowing delicate integration of oak spice while preserving freshness and purity.

Food Pairing
Pairs beautifully with roasted duck, wild mushroom risotto, or cedar-planked salmon. Its minerality and freshness also complement charcuterie and earthy cheeses like Tomme or Reblochon.

Verdict
A tightly woven, finely balanced Pinot Noir that captures the essence of the Radian Vineyard. Elegant yet powerful, coastal yet generous — a wine that speaks clearly of place and craftsmanship. Cheers! — 2 months ago

Kevin Murphy

9.2

A smooth, balanced wine. Let it breathe. — 2 years ago

Kamall

9.2

Very nice with a quick decant. Fruit is very Sta. Rita Hills but shifts into mineral and saline elements. Amazing quality from such new vines. 2019s I’ve had from this coastal area of Sta Rita Hills are all excellent. (Chanin, Tyler, Sanford) — 3 years ago

Ming L

9.0

I’ve tasted couple excellent bottles of well aged Pinot from Ashley’s vineyard. This Chardonnay is young but very good too.

The 2022 combines the AVA’s coastal freshness with the vintage’s generous ripeness. Aromas of lemon zest, yellow apple, and grilled pineapple mingle with vanilla, brioche, and a saline breeze. The palate is sleek yet plush, balancing citrus-driven acidity with creamy mid-palate weight. Subtle spice frame a long juicy finish.

8 months in French oak barrel, 30% new. — 3 months ago

Vanessa

9.2

Sandhi ‘Romance’ Chardonnay (2020) is made exclusively with grapes from the Domaine de la Côte estate vineyards, farmed organically, within the Sta Rita Hills AVA of the Central Coast region of California.

After a wild-yeast fermentation, this wine aged 10 months in neutral oak and 6 months in tank. It is textured with flinty mineral notes, next to layered aromas and flavors of toast, cream, cheese rind, white blossom, lime zest and just-ripe apple, pear, white peach, nectarine, honeydew, and starfruit. It is precise, elegant, and nuanced.

It has a freshness and vibrancy with a textured mouthfeel, bright acidity, and a delicately reductive character. At 12.8% ABV, this wine sits firmly within the medium alcohol range, speaking to the cooling coastal winds that are prevalent in the Sta Rita Hills AVA.

It’s absolutely delicious and a versatile culinary complement.

Cheers to Sandhi and beautiful, terroir-driven California Chardonnays! — 2 years ago

with Deked1

Jonatan Ross

9.5

Bom desde a primeira beiçada — 3 years ago

with Gabriela

Carter White

9.1

Cherry and blackberry, accented by graphite and leather, juicy and gluggable. — 3 years ago

Vanessa

9.3

“La Côte” of Domaine de la Côte is a DREAMY Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills AVA of California’s Central Coast region.

Here pacific coastal breezes stretch inland and cool the sun-soaked vineyards. Domaine de la Côte has a collection of 6 vineyards on the western edge of Santa Rita Hills. On the back label you see a map of several of their vineyard blocks, including “La Côte” which is organically-farmed and nestled on a steep southeast-facing slope, where it absorbs the radiant sun during the growing season.

The grapes that went into this wine were harvested by hand, cluster-by-cluster, affording a gentler handling of the fruit with reduced risk of oxidation and microbial spoilage.

This wine was then fermented in a concrete vessel using 100% whole clusters (stems and all) thanks to the process of wild, ambient yeasts in the vineyard, winery, and on the skin of the berries…

The result is a positively perfumed and pristine berry-fruited profile with concentrated notes of black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry, hibiscus, rosewater, cherry blossom, and anise balanced by a firm backbone of acidity and reserved alcoholic profile (13.1% ABV).

Following fermentation, this wine matured for 10 months in oak (30% new oak), lending delicate secondary notes of vanilla, clove, and cardamom.

The Domaine de la Côte “Bloom’s Field” was among the wines featured in the Somm 3 movie; it was blind tasted next to other French and California wines in a 2018 retake of the 1976 Judgement of Paris that culminated in a tasting of wines by a panel of luminaries of the wine world: Fred Dame, Jancis Robinson, and the late, great Steven Spurrier, who organized the Judgment of Paris back in 1976.

It is a captivating wine and has the structure to age, though we are loving it in its current state. It’s a delicious pairing with the herb-crusted salmon, roasted asparagus, and crème fraiche / chive mashed potatoes.

Cheers!

— a year ago

with Deked1

Seth Masterson

8.9

Starts out with a great nose. Lots of ripe yellow pear, quince and guava with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
The texture is a little on the crunchy side as opposed to the smooth velveeta texture that you can get from a nice Vouvray — 2 years ago

Tree Kilpatrick

8.9

Name and art are cool ish. Rusty and brown on edge. Flavors are classic coastal stuff. Ripe plums. Apple skins. Fresh cherry juice. Bit of funk. This is well worth the $8. — 3 years ago