I don't know how a California Pinot Noir could be more compelling than Ross Cobb's 2021 Doc's Ranch bottling. It is one of those wines that truly mesmerizes the senses and makes you wonder how something made from fruit can taste so good.
Rated 97 points by Decanter and 96 points by both Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck, this is one of the finest examples of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir you'll find from the top-notch 2021 vintage.
Ross Cobb is undoubtedly one of our country's greatest Pinot Noir makers. He learned the grape from the ground up -- helping his parents at the family's famed Coastlands Vineyard, traveling extensively through Burgundy and learning from some of the region's top vignerons, and making wines and managing vineyards for the likes of Williams-Selyem, Flowers, and Hirsch.
Even while working for those Sonoma Coast legends, Ross was quietly producing tiny amounts of wine under his own label. Today, he focuses entirely on his own project, and I consider myself lucky to call him a friend and an inspiration.
Every time I drink one of Ross's Pinots, I'm struck by the detail and nuance he coaxes from the grape. You can absolutely sense his time spent in Burgundy, but his heart remains firmly rooted in Sonoma, and both influences shine through in the 2021 Doc's Ranch Pinot Noir.
From one of the great Sonoma Coast vintages of recent memory, this is a pretty-much-perfect bottle of wine. The Doc's Ranch Vineyard sits adjacent to Cobb's Coastlands Vineyard, so we're talking about a serious Pinot Noir sweet spot here. The quality of site and Ross's mastery of the grape are both on full display in this pure and beautiful Sonoma Coast Pinot. It possesses that hard-to-describe, somewhat mystical quality that all truly great Pinot Noir shares.
Just 950 cases were produced, and this is comprised of "Grade A clonal material" -- Swan, Calera, and Pommard, to be exact. Fermented with 50% whole clusters, which adds savory spice, forest floor, and herbal complexity to the pristine red fruit aromas and flavors, this is expansive and energetic on the palate, with refined and ripe tannins. While it is drinking beautifully already, this will provide even greater rewards down the road.
While I am confident with my own tasting notes, I love the review from Decanter's Clive Pursehouse:
"Ross uses 50% whole cluster to make this wine—aromas of red flowers and mint, white pepper and wild green strawberries. The palate shows sweet red berries, lightly spiced with notes of white pepper and an elegantly textured mouthfeel. This Pinot dances across the palate with zippy, savoury white pepper and a fresh note of evergreen sap and lithe pine needles lingering on through the finish. Drinking window: 2024 - 2040."
In case you didn't pick it up yet, there's a lot going on here, but the wine is blessed with an overall deliciousness that makes it incredibly easy to drink. My advice is to get some now, but make sure to save a bottle or two for later consumption.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville
