Pinot Noir 'Maritime Vyd'

Score

99

"Maritime comes from a block that sits at the lowest, most ocean-exposed point of the Hirsch estate. The 2023 was the last pick of the already cool and late vintage, and it is just breathtaking. At just 12.5% alcohol, it shows so much freshness, with saline aromas of kelp, salty air, and fresh herbs like tarragon, with a layer of forest floor underneath, reminiscent of the redwoods further inland in the region. It tastes of incredible depth: crunchy cherries, wild berries, plum skins, and a touch of dry spices that carries through the saline, mineral finish. The tannins are silky and very well integrated, making this wine seriously ready to drink, yet the complexity of flavours and electric acidity promise many years to go in the bottle. Love the lifted tone. Truly stunning!"

Score

97

"So perfumed, showing sliced strawberries, bark, iron, pencil shavings and white pepper. Medium-bodied with bright orange peel and peaches carried by a fresh, silky texture. Lovely finish. The maritime influence casts its magic spell. Drink now."

Score

95

"Pouring a deeper red color within the range, the 2023 Pinot Noir Maritime is powerful yet balanced. (None of these wines exceed 13% alcohol.) It reveals darker cherry fruit, baking spice, forest earth, and crushed herbs. Medium to full-bodied, it has broader shoulders, ripe tannins, and excellent persistence, with savory mineral undertones and freshness carrying through the finish."

Score

95

"The 2023 Pinot Noir Maritime was the last fruit picked in this vintage. It possesses gorgeous mid-palate texture and overall depth. A blast of dark cherry/plum fruit, new leather, rose petal, chalk and exotic spice overtones all meld together in the glass. I admire this wine's tension and palate presence."

Score

95

"The 2023 Pinot Noir Maritime comes from 25-year-old vines in the coldest, windiest part of Hirsch's Sonoma Coast vineyard, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. This wine is particularly expressive this year, offering intense, detailed aromas of pomegranate, cranberry, blackberry, conifer forest and pipe tobacco. The light-bodied palate offers surprising concentration and natural spiciness. It has a taut frame of chalky tannins, a vibrant spine of acidity and a hauntingly long finish. It should be long lived in the cellar."

Score

19.5

"From the parcels where the vineyard first catches sight of the ocean. The last pick of an already cool, late vintage. Fully destemmed. From a fully exposed and windswept western slope with shallow soils of black clay and sandstone. Biodynamic. Leading with peppercorn and black cherry, there,s a beam of red fruit streaming through the mid palate that gives the wine a limpid, resinous, rosey note. The flavours are darker, hard to read at first but then presenting a brilliant dark-red-fruit character, with a texture that feels very mineral, the tannins quite assertive, but the acidity finishes with lift and energy. - Patrick Comiskey"