92pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Tasted prior to bottling, the 2023 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is dark-fruited, woody and faintly floral, with a sappy, anise-driven side that appears with aeration. The palate is surprisingly generous in texture with a twisted, sturdy and inward tannic profile that should soften and come together after bottling.
Barrel Sample: 90-92

Winemaker Notes

The Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir remains a staple of our winemaking, and with the already impressive 2023 vintage this wine delivers twofold a classic profile of the appellation: raspberry coulis, charred Serranos, oolong tea, turned earth and wintergreen, bright and inviting with layers of fruit, herbs and minerality coalescing beautifully on the palate. Light in body, there’s a pleasant grip to really drive home the finish, which welcomes more spice and texture to this delicately balanced wine.

Winery Notes

Sandhi is a small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Sandhi was founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and winemaker, Sashi Moorman.

Sandhi represents a union essential to the production of wine: the collaboration between man, earth, and vine. The willing participation of all three elements is necessary to make great wine, and the winegrower must make this collaboration rich and nourishing for all involved. An understanding of these joint efforts informs Sandhi’s exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines throughout the Santa Barbara County terroir.

The individual vineyards from which these grapes originate–some legendary, some new–have been exhaustively vetted for character, personality, and balance. Employing the wisdom and talents of people who know the vineyards, Sandhi is dedicated to making wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance. Wine achieves power and beauty through the seamless integration of these qualities, and this is the inspiration for Sandhi. Wines exhibiting extreme ripeness, alcohol, oak, and other discordant exaggerations cannot truly express a specific vineyards terroir.