97pts James Suckling

Crushed stone, raspberry and strawberry character. Medium-bodied with density and a toned structured. White pepper notes come through. Racy and bright. Drink or hold.

95pts Wine Spectator

Alluring, with singed black tea and sandalwood nuances leading off, followed by a core of red and black cherry fruit flavors that bristle with coiled-up energy, while tobacco, warm earth and savory notes infuse the finish. Reveals a nice buried iron edge, too. This needs some cellaring to fully unwind. Best from 2025 through 2035.

95pts Wine Enthusiast

This very young wine possesses an immensely layered profile, so expect lots of exciting evolution in the years to come. Dense aromas of bay leaf, wild mint, damp peppercorns and yerba santa relay the stem inclusion on the nose. Tense, angular tannins frame the palate, where muddled elderberry and plum flavors play against the intense herbaceousness. Drink 2025–2040.
Editors' Choice.

93pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2021 Pinot Noir Memorious comes from the smallest parcel at Domaine de la Côte (about three acres), where vines grow on clay soils and are subjected to lots of wind. It has a pale ruby-purple color and scents of wild raspberry and blackberry with nuances of tangerine, dried herbs and lavender. The palate is light-bodied and delicately styled with chalky tannins and energetic acidity, finishing long and perfumed.

Winemaker Notes

Downslope from Bloom’s Field, just above Santa Ynez River Monterey shale, alluvial deposits. Whole cluster ferment in open concrete tanks.

Vineyard Notes

Perched above the Santa Ynez River, Memorious is immediately downslope from Bloom’s Field. The vineyard bends gently to the southwest, opening its face to the Pacific Ocean and its winds. It rests upon a bedrock of Monterey Shale covered by alluvial deposits; its soils are the heaviest of the Domaine— deep brown in color, composed primarily of clay.

Memorious is host to—and consequently, named for—our one acre of Pinot Noir seedlings, planted in 2007. With these seedlings, which are in effect the “memories” of Pinot Noir, we have set out to identify and, over many years to come, cultivate our own genetic selection of one of the world’s greatest grape varieties.