96pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Pinot Noir Casteel is youthfully shy and takes plenty of air to reveal intoxicating scents of pomegranate liqueur, blackberry jam, Earl Grey tea leaves and earth. The medium-bodied palate is concentrated and powerful! It offers generous layers of dark fruit, earth and spice, gaining purity as it airs in the glass. It's structured by fine, chalky tannins and mouthwatering acidity and has a long, floral and spice-laced finish.

94pts James Suckling

Bright and vivid pinot with cherries, cranberries, dried rose hips and dried herbs on the nose. Medium-bodied, clean and refreshing on the palate, offering vivid red berry and citrus notes. Crunchy and mineraly.

93pts Wine Enthusiast

Blackberries dominate an aromatic set that includes loamy soil and the salinity of a maritime breeze. Cherry and lime-zest flavors match with a leathery texture, muscular tannins and juicy acidity. When you open this wine, make a toast to Terry Casteel.

93pts Wine Spectator

Precise and structured, offering handsome flavors of raspberry and blueberry that take on crushed stone, black tea and savory spice notes as this builds tension toward broad-shouldered tannins. Best from 2025 through 2032. 954 cases made.

Winemaker's Notes

The 2022 Casteel includes five blocks selected from Lewman Vineyard and the Western slopes of Bethel Heights, which unintentionally form a straight North-South line between the two vineyards. This was born of many blind tastings at the blending table, not a conscious choice to pull from a specific vein of the property. It’s comforting to know that the Casteel, in our view the best wine of the vintage, is coming not from our oldest vines, but from grafted vines ranging from 26 to 30 years of age. As we begin the bittersweet process of replanting the original vines at Bethel Heights,  there is solace in knowing that we have tremendous material still at hand, and the promise of what is to come from replanting into the future.

About the Wine

For many years Bethel Heights was recognized primarily for block designated Pinot noir wines from our estate vineyard. In 2002 we took a new path and produced our first Casteel Pinot Noir, a blend of barrels from several different blocks, selected to express the epitome of that particular vintage at Bethel Heights. This is our only Pinot noir that carries our family name rather than a place name, which gives us poetic license to select our favorite barrels from each vintage. 

Organic