Sebastiani Vineyards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018

The 2014 is medium to dark garnet in color. It is has fruit forward aromas of dark cherry and plum sauce, with forest floor and oriental spice. The palate is medium to full bodied, with juicy, cherry fruit. It finishes with soft tannins and lingering flavors of plum sauce and earthiness. It is more fruit forward, with darker cherry flavors than in the past, owing to a warmer vintage.

Sebastiani's first century in Sonoma winemaking began when Samuele Sebastiani emigrated from the Tuscany region of Italy in 1895 and started Sebastiani nine years later. A stonemason by trade, he quarry-mined the Sonoma hills for cobblestones that were used to build the streets of San Francisco. He worked long hours and saved carefully to buy land in Sonoma County, from which he would make wine for the Sonoma community and San Francisco's restaurants. The winery was the only one in Sonoma County to continue operations through Prohibition, making a small amount of sacramental and medicinal wines. It has been joked, and perhaps with some grain of truth, that during this time there was a resurgence of people becoming very religious.